Book Three: Fire Instincts Version
by Sokkas Instincts 2
Summary: A rewrite of Book 3 immediately after Cross Roads. A crazy Fire Lord, Azula being forced to to join with her enemies, and a darker force controlling the war that ravagaed the world. The beginning of an epic. I don't own ATLA
1. Revelations

Instinct's Info: This story is getting revisions done as are most of my other ones in preparation for me beginning to write again. Feel free to critique or leave any other comments you want via a review.

Chapter One: Revelations

Appa screamed through the air; the only thing he knew was that he had to go fast. No one had been at the reigns for nearly half an hour now; they were all watching Katara trying to heal Aang, with the exception of Toph who was tapping her foot nervously. It had been a couple hours since they had left Ba-Sing-Se and Aang wasn't doing much better. He would be awake one minute, groaning with pain, and then out the next, his face contorted with great pain even during sleep. Sokka tore his eyes away because he knew Katara was going to need more water to keep going. He also knew that she was drained, but she wouldn't take a brake until Aang was stable. He'd tried asking her about it once and she had made it clear that she wouldn't.

Sokka started looking off the side of Appa, down to the dark ground below them. At the pace Appa was flying, he found a lake in no time and jumped to take the reins that had been left unattended. Appa responded to his steering and plummeted down through the air. After hours of what amounted to sprinting through the sky, he was ready to collapse.

They landed without a bump and Toph struggled down off Appa with Sokka's help and stamped her foot. A second later the water was flowing right to next to Appa through a little stream. Bosko jumped off of Appa and somehow landed on his paws. The Earth King followed suit and landed on Bosko's cushy back.

The King slid off his back and tried to get some of his questions answered, "What are we going to do now? The invasion plan is finished!"

"No, not exactly." Sokka started rubbing his chin in an attempt to look thoughtful.

"All we needed for the invasion was an army. We were in already in the Earth Kingdom and Ba-Sing-Se was the only stronghold left, if you don't count what Long-Feng tried to do of course. There's still one nation that hasn't fallen: the Water Tribes. If we can reach my dad at Chameleon Bay we might still be able to use the invasion plan." Sokka concluded with a sombre voice.

Now that they had a plan and a destination he climbed back up onto Appa to check on Katara and Aang. Katara's hands were glowing with the water and Aang was awake again. Katara had a ring of ice around the spot Azula had blasted him.

"What's the ring for?" Sokka asked his sense of curiosity never sated.

Before Katara could answer Aang did in a much healthier sounding voice, "It dulls the pain. If I'm awake she can get the more serious stuff done faster because I know where the damage is the worst, although it's not too hard to tell." His shoulders sagged when he said this. He was all too aware of the chunk missing out of his back.

"We're going to head for Chameleon Bay and meet up with dad. There are probably some other healers there that can take over for you."

"Thanks, I could probably use a break."

"You know, with the ice, I'm probably going to be fine for a bit. You should get some rest." Aang offered, knowing how much she needed a break.

"As soon as the ice melts you're going to be even worse than before! I'm not resting until you're in better condition. Where's does it hurt the most now?" Her determination brooked no argument.

"Center of the back," he answered, "a little higher." He added when she started again. He knew there wasn't any point arguing with her. Katara refilled her water skins and they took off, much to Appa's dislike, again with Toph sitting comfortably in one corner of the saddle with one hand tapping to no particular rhythm on it. She still didn't like flying all too much and it helped take her mind off it.

By the time they reached Chameleon Bay Katara was ready to pass out and she was almost out of water again. When they landed a small group of people ran out of a cluster of tents to greet them. Sokka jumped down to get their message out quickly.

"Are there any healers here?" His voice betrayed the urgency and a couple people sprinted back to the tents and came back with three. Katara and Aang were carried off of Appa and Katara barely made it to a tent before she was out like a light.

Aang was carried on a stretcher to another tent and was flipped onto his back and the healers began trying to do what Katara had been trying to do for hours. They were faster because of their numbers but Aang had to tell them about the ice ring and they weren't as good about placing it so once and a while he would slip back into unconsciousness.

Sokka walked through the rest of the camp, looking for Chief Hakoda. His tent was the one nearest the water and was hard to discern because it was identical to the others around it. Sokka probably would have skipped it if he hadn't seen his father walk into it.

Sokka ran up to the tent and asked tentatively at the flap, "Dad?"

Hakoda came through the opening and threw his son into a warm embrace, "Sokka! What are you doing back here! Why didn't someone tell me you were here?"

Sokka would have loved to just say hello and start talking about his exploits, but his voice was dead serious and he hated telling his father about their failure, "There was a coup in Ba-Sing-Se. Azula headed it. She shot Aang with lightning during the fight so we had to leave. Without him there was no way we could win."

"And you came here so he could be healed. How is Katara doing, she'd have been fighting with him too right?"

"Yes, she's the one that got Aang out of there. She's been trying to heal him, but hasn't made much progress. Aang got hit right through the chest." Sokka paused for a moment, phrasing his next question, "Dad, there's another reason we came here. When Ba-Sing-Se fell, the Earth Kingdom fell. There isn't another army to stand against the Fire Nation except this one."

"Sokka, this isn't an army! We got hit badly last week. We have a few hundred left. That's nothing compared to what the Fire Nation has!"

"It doesn't need to be. Remember the invasion plan I mentioned?"

"Somewhat, you were kind of sketchy with the details."

"We learned that a solar eclipse is coming and it will knock out all fire bending. If we invade then, we'll catch them off guard and we'll be able to strike them right at their heart! Aang should be healed by then and with our help he can take down the Fire Lord!"

"It's a great plan Sokka, but you're missing a couple things. Even without fire bending, a force this size is going to be hard pressed to get to the capitol. You're also forgetting that if Princess Azula orchestrated the coup then she probably knows about your invasion plan. There's also the possibility that the Fire Nation already knows about the eclipse so they would be ready for it."

"We have to at least try. Sozon's comet will arrive soon and then no one will be able to stop the Fire Nation."

"Then we'd better move fast. If they don't know about it then Azula would tell them so our first step has to be stopping her from getting back."

"That might be a bit harder than you think. She has this crazy blue fire and she can shoot lightning!" Sokka had started trying to act out the fire and lightning, much to Hakoda's amusement.

"As you said last time, but we have to try right?" Hakoda answered, using Sokka's own reasoning.

"I was just warning you dad, it's going to be difficult." Sokka said with a smile. The short time he had been with him before going back to Ba-Sing-Se had been some of the best times of his life and now was no different.

Katara's eyes opened slowly at first then snapped open when she remembered what had happened. She dashed out of her tent and crashed right into Sokka, making him spill his boiled sea prunes.

"Oh man, that was going to be my lunch!" he whined.

Katara was too focused on how Aang was doing to actually notice though, "Which tent is Aang in?"

Sokka recovered from the loss of the sea prunes and answered her, "Relax for a minute, he's fine. The healers pulled an all nighter. He's doing way better now. He's in the tent closest to the cliff if you want to check on him. Find dad once you're done, he didn't get to see you yet. And you owe me a bowl of sea prunes later!" He added as she dashed off to see Aang.

Hakoda had been busy for most of the night, getting the ships ready to go, but once he was done that he had gone to sleep outside the healing tent because he figured that Katara would go directly there once she woke up, and had fallen asleep there.

As he woke up he saw Katara sprinting towards the tent and opened the flap for her to go in. He could wait to say hi a little longer. She had a few tears in her eyes as she ran up and he was left to wonder who they were for: seeing him after so long or her worrying about Aang.

Instead of going into the tent she gave Hakoda a flying hug and almost knocked him over, "I missed you so much dad!"

Evidently the tears had been for him, "I missed you too, more than you'll ever know."

"You're not leaving us again." Her tears were flowing more freely now and Hakoda tightened his hug promising the same.

After their reunion Hakoda swung the tent flap open and Katara stepped into the tent. Aang was asleep, though without the contorted face of the night before. She felt so relieved her knees almost fell out from underneath her. She knelt by him initially thinking about checking him over for any problems. Shortly after that she began to suit there for no real purpose other than the fact of being thankful for him surviving.

When all the preparations were done Hakoda gathered his men together and left the beaches. Sokka stood by his side and Hakoda tried to start up a conversation, he wanted to spend as much time as he could with his son.

"You know, it's kind of a shame what happened in Omashu. The pentapox epidemic they have made the city next to impossible to rule. When everyone moved out the government thought they got rid of it but it just keeps coming back!"

Sokka couldn't believe his ears, "Dad, we're the ones that started that. The whole epidemic was a hoax! The people in the resistance must be using it to shield their actions!"

"Wait; weren't you ever immunized for pentapox?"

"There's no such thing! You stick a pentapus on your cheek, tickle it, and it pops off! It just makes you look like you're sick!"

"So, we could go and retake Omashu right now?"

The idea stopped Sokka cold and it took him a minute to respond, "We should still try to take out the ship Azula's on before we try that." Hakoda nodded his agreement although he still shared the giddy feeling Sokka had right now.

When they came to the exit of the bay and turned towards Ba-Sing-Se they got a nasty surprise. A fleet of Fire Navy boats was steaming along in the opposite direction of Ba-Sing-Se

Sokka was fuming, "Why does her entourage have to be so big? Heck, you're the leader of Southern Water Tribe and all you have are these ships!"

"Well, with the information she has, I can see why they put her in a fleet."

"Guess we go to Omashu now, right?"

"Unless you want to try and take that on?"

"You are **really** going to like Bumi if you keep talking like that." Sokka said as he laughed at his dad's absurd idea.


	2. Imperfect

Chapter Two: Imperfect

Ozai was getting worried. If the messenger hawk he had received from Azula was true then he had a major problem on his hands. The hawk had said she had infiltrated Ba-Sing-Se and had orchestrated a coup using part of the city's law enforcement. If she was able to usurp power that easily, what would be stopping her from doing it here?

He got up and paced restlessly around the throne room, thinking of all the openings he had around him. Some of the ministers might need to be changed; Mai's father one of the prominent ones. He would be far too easy for her to bend. He would also have to try and weed out her informants. He knew she had an information network that she said she was using to weed out pockets of resistance. If she thought so little of him she would be in for a rude awakening.

He eventually came to the conclusion that he needed someone that would be able to keep an eye on her constantly. The only problem was that if she found out or even had the smallest inkling of it, the spy would be torched to cinders in a split second. Therefore he would have to come up with a way to stop her from doing it. It couldn't be anything to obvious or else she would try and find a way to get away to complete her plans and then he could be blindsided. So who could be placed near her and not seem like a privacy invader?

No one at the moment. Everyone that was near her was either scared to breath around her or was employed by her, both most of the time. That meant he had to create the position. So what would the spy have to be in order to be around her all the time? Since she undoubtedly had someone along the same lines for him he started to think of all the people around him that could be spying. The list was quite lengthy, but it could be shortened in due time. There were times of day when he was alone so he must have done something to get rid of the spy.

That led him to start looking through his past to try and find the traitor. The answer to his problem came to him suddenly and from a direction he had never thought of. The only person who had been around him near constantly had been Fire Lady Ursa! There was no way she was a spy though. She had thought Azula was a monster and had instead concentrated her efforts on Zuko. Too bad she hadn't seen his way of thinking. He had seen Azula's potential right from the beginning and had done all he could to bring it out. How had he not seen her become such a threat? She must have blinded him somehow.

Ozai realized he was straying from his original mind track and quickly got back to what he had been doing. Now that he had what position the spy would fill he had to find someone that could fill it without attracting any suspicion. He was known to favour Azula over Zuko so if he was going to make it look like he was choosing someone for her then he would have to make it seem like he was doing it in a caring way. That meant it would have to be someone like her, which made the choice very difficult. Anyone like her would see the value of himself to him and that could lead to exploitation. There was also the fact that Azula was practically one of a kind, so there wasn't really anybody that was like her.

Ozai continued his musing of his problem throughout the day. It distracted him during all the meetings he had to attend. The answer amazingly came to him during one such meeting near the end of the day. The meeting had a small attendance as it was only about intelligence and there really wasn't much need of it now that Sozon's comet was fast approaching and they had finally taken over the Earth Kingdom.

The Minister of Intelligence had just wrapped up his report when Ozai snapped out of one of his many reveries and noticed someone sitting beside him. It was obviously the Minister's son because they shared the same looks and even sat the exact same way. The Minister sat turned to one side so that he always had a view of the door. Ozai could see why he had the gotten the job. The son sitting next to him seemed to be soaking in all the information at the meeting and was even scrutinizing some of the other people there. 'Perfect' was the only word that popped into Ozai's mind when he thought about him spying on Azula.

Once the meetings were over for the day he called the Minister back and arranged everything. Once the meeting was over he told the son to stay behind so he could have a talk with him.

"Do you know what you're going to be?"

"Yes my Lord, although I don't see why I have to spy on your daughter."

Ozai was visibly shocked, he hadn't told either of them anything about spying, "You must assume a lot to think I would spy on my own daughter. Why would I?"

"No offence meant my Lord, but it has been obvious for many years which one of your children you favoured. This would lead many to believe that you would have the view some parents do: that no one is good enough for their child. Although you could probably pull of something along the lines of a political alliance or something similar to cover your real reason, the fact that you chose anyone at all is a glaring hole in your plan.

"Add to the fact that I doubt that you knew of my existence early today, I can see why you wouldn't trouble yourself with the familial matters of all your ministers, it becomes a very good possibility that you have an ulterior motive for making me Azula's fiancée. Because of her famous ruthlessness and guile the prime reason would be to spy. I don't believe I have assumed very much in my reasoning."

Ozai couldn't help but smile, "And would you have any idea as to how I could remedy that gaping hole?"

"Seeing how Zuko and Mai will mostly likely become a couple on their return, I don't see the absurdity that Azula found someone else in the same area. As for how to keep her from publicly dumping me, we would need something to entice her not to. The best I could do would be to tell her that I don't really want the throne and that if I inherit it she can have its power. That's the only thing I have right now that could stop her. If you had anything more solid I would suggest you use it, my lord."

"I could make your idea into something more solid. As you said, it's public knowledge I favour Azula, so if I were to divert his inheritance of the throne to her as long as she doesn't get rid of you, your position would be safe."

"Thank you, but I was serious about not wanting the throne. I don't like the restrictions the political arena places on you, so if you could do that in private and actually make it her inheritance I would be much obliged my lord."

"Your father's teachings no doubt." Ozai muttered, "Fine, I'll do that. One more thing before you can go; I think it might be a good idea if I introduce you first so you aren't burnt right away. As such, I'd need to know your name."

The fact that his father had not introduced when he had first met the Fire Lord in the meeting had not been lost on the man's son and it did irk him, so he took full advantage, "Rayk Peigo."

"Thank you, my future son in law." Ozai smiled, and motioned that he was excused.

"Thank you for choosing me, I won't let you down, my lord."

Rayk left the throne room pleased with himself. His father had thought he would be able to gain some power by capitalizing on the Fire Lord distractedness. Instead, Rayk had come out with even more power than his father. He thought about rubbing it in his face, but decided against it. He had, after all, taught Rayk everything he knew, so there was something due there.

Ozai was pleased, but slightly worried. Rayk was far more apt than he had first thought. His mental capacity was at the same level as Azula, possibly even higher. That's what he was counting because that was the only advantage he had over her. Rayk also had that interesting notion that he was being shackled by politics. Ozai thought he might try to disillusion him later on. With the power one got from the throne the shackles disappeared.

The more he thought about it, the more he came to like the boy. Then he realized that he was thinking the same way he had about Azula when she was small. Rayk would serve his purpose, but he would then have to be disposed of. The last thing he needed was someone more conniving around than his daughter.

Zuko took a long look back at the harbour before he boarded the boat home. 'This place was where I proved my worth.' He thought, as he looked back the harbour that was now swarming with Fire Nation troops.

The Dai Lee had taken down a large segment of Ba-Sing-Se's wall since the coup, but the military had the harbour in full use, with ships constantly coming in to strengthen their hold on the capitol. Occasionally you could hear a women screaming inside the city and it just made Zuko want to leave more. After the inner turmoil he'd gone through here the thought of what the soldiers could be doing seemed to sully the decisions he had made in the place.

Every time he thought of the choice Iroh's words would come back to him, "You need to start asking yourself the big questions: **who **are you, and **what **do **you **want?…The kind of redemption she offers is not for you!"

Other words of the man he had come to see more of as a father than an uncle flew around his head as he walked up the gangplank. He had made the choice he had to. What kind of person would he be if he betrayed his own people? The troubling thoughts were banished from his mind as Mai stepped out of the shadows at the top of the ramp. This was one of the reasons that he had chosen to join Azula. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he betrayed her. He also didn't want Azula sending her after him, she might not be a bender, but he knew enough not to be the target of her uncommon flares of anger.

The frown on her face inverted itself when he reached her. It wasn't much, but from her it was a lot, "Are you ready to leave this miserable place?" her monotonous voice seemed to make the world right for him. He didn't know why; when he thought about it, it should have annoyed him actually.

"So this is worse than Omashu, huh?" he asked with a little interest.

"No, my family is back from there. When the pentapox epidemic started up again they left and quarantined the city. Now the place is even drabber than it was. Even if they hadn't moved I would have gone home. The place was boring enough to begin with, now it'd be unbearable."

"Huh, you should have talked with King Bumi more. From what I heard he's pretty crazy."

"Watching an old man babble on senselessly is entertaining? You've been gone too long."

"It was just an idea. Where's Azula?"

"You're worrying about her already? She probably won't start on some other project until we get back."

"You sound like you actually trust her." His voice was shocked a little with disbelief.

"Hey, she's like your dad. As long as you aren't on her bad side she isn't too bad."

"Uh-huh, why does she hate me then?"

"You're the one that's going to be getting the throne, I'd have a grudge against you too if I thought like she did." Her deadpan voice was back and Zuko wished she'd let more of herself out there.

"Hah, until I see my father again and he says my honour is restored I wouldn't believe that he wouldn't be giving that to her." His anger was flaring and it annoyed her a little that he could be so easily provoked.

"Relax; when you fought on her side you got a little slack with her. She won't try to sabotage you right away."

"Glad to know that." Zuko answered sarcastically.

Zuko was starting to pout a little and Mai decided to cheer him up, "Just forget it, her brain is taking a break and so should you. We could go watch Ty-Lee make a fool of herself when she sees the sunset."

"What are you talking about?"

"She starts going on about how pretty it is. It's funny in a sickening sort of way. I'll bring a bucket just in case." She took Zuko by the arm and led him into the ship.


	3. Liberation

Chapter Three: Liberation

Hakoda had been trying to keep his mood up since they had seen the fleet Azula was part of, but he just couldn't. Not that he hadn't thought of ways to still take her ship out, it was just that they all involved luck. There was no way to tell which boat she was actually on. There was no guarantee that she was on the one in the middle.

She probably knew by now that there was a group of people from the Southern Water Tribe guarding Chameleon Bay, so it was obvious that she would avoid it and that she would need to a way to protect herself from attack. It was common knowledge that a Water Tribe ship with a complement of benders would be able to take down numerous Fire Nation ships, regardless of size, before it was taken down, which meant the only advantage she could have would've been their lack of intelligence.

Hakoda's fleet pulled back into shore and he explained what the enemy had done to protect her, "They've placed her on one of boats in the fleet so there's no way for us to find her without a huge amount of luck. That may prove to be our salvation though. That was a large fleet, even by Fire Nation standards, so they'll be short handed in terms of boats at Ba-Sing-Se. They won't want to risk any kind of problem with its defences so they'll send troops from elsewhere, which means that Omashu will be even more shorthanded than it was when the pentapox broke back out, which I've just been told is a hoax!"

He gave Sokka a warm smile and pushed him forward to explain, catching him completely off guard, "Me, Katara and Aang snuck into Omashu a while ago and we invented the disease called pentapox to get some guards off our backs." Sokka was redder than a cherry, public speaking was not his forte, "There was a resistance movement there and we think they've been using our disease to mask their movements. And, yeah, dad, you want to finish up?" Sokka stepped back; glad to be out of the spotlight.

"That means that with us swelling this resistance's ranks they'll be able to retake Omashu and free King Bumi. With that done we'll have a large enough army to be able to take advantage of the Day of Black Sun and capture the Fire Nation's capital!" There was a roar of cheers and Sokka was left to wonder how his dad could whip his people into such high spirits. That was one thing that he hadn't got from him, he thought dejectedly. After Hakoda had issued orders for them to pack up camp and get ready to heads towards Omashu, Sokka went off to find the rest of the gaang, just in case they hadn't figured out was going on by now.

He found them closer to the cliff. Katara was trying to let Aang get healed some more. He was having limited success because he was still having to use his glider as a crutch. Toph was sitting on a rock and smiling at the two, Sokka could tell she was laughing on the inside.

"The healers said that my body would take care of the rest! I don't need more healing!" Aang complained as Katara tried to freeze his feet him place so he couldn't get away.

"They also said you shouldn't walk, and look what you're doing!"

Sokka decided to intervene, "Um, did you guys see dad give his speech a few minutes ago?"

"Oh yeah! Didn't hear, but _definitely_ saw it." Toph answered sarcastically.

"No, why? Did you manage to get Azula?" Katara asked hopefully.

"No, she's in a huge fleet headed back to the Fire Nation. We wouldn't have stood a chance at trying to hunt her down in it.

"What are you saying? We have to take her down! If she gets back to the Fire Nation and warns them about the Day of Black Sun our whole opportunity is lost!" Aang wailed.

"Yes, but they think we don't have an army to back us up when we do." Sokka answered smugly.

"Sokka, I agree with dad, this isn't an army." Katara pointed out.

"Oh yeah, I know that, but Omashu definitely has army." Sokka was now grinning from ear to ear.

"Wait, we're going to liberate Omashu?" Aang asked with an extremely surprised look on his face.

""Yep because the whole city is stricken with pentapox!" Sokka sat back and saw them all first get a surprised look on their face then start to laugh. Toph was the only one that wasn't.

"Am I missing something? Why are twinkle-toes and sweetness laughing like hyena-hogs?"

"We started the rumour about pentapox." Sokka explained, "We told the resistance movement in Omashu about it and they've been using it ever since!"

After hearing that Toph burst out laughing too and was joined shortly after by Sokka. Once their laughing fit was done and Aang had grudgingly let Katara heal his back some more after it had opened a little during all the laughter. Once that was done they all split up to help with the preparations for the invasion.

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It had taken a little longer than expected to reach Omashu because of all the ships that were using the same route. Hakoda had been right to think that troops would be diverted from Omashu to strengthen the hold on Ba-Sing-Se, because of that, there tons of Fire Nation ships sailing towards them.

Aang was grateful for the slower pace because by the time they landed the boats again he could walk around again and his back didn't hurt him unless he strained himself. He was even able to bend a little.

The boats were docked on shore a little ways down the coast from Omashu so they wouldn't have to fight their way into the city. Aang showed them the way they had gotten in last time and the whole group opted to let Toph make a tunnel that went to a resistance base instead of through the sewers.

There was a little bit if surprise about a hole suddenly appearing in their floor, but the resistance took it well, so only the first dozen or so Water Tribe warriors were trapped in earth pyramids.

Aang made his dissolve and jumped out of the hole, stumbling as he landed because of a flash of pain, to explain their appearance, "We're friends, you can let them go! You do remember us right?" he asked, a slightly worried expression playing across his face.

"Yes, but we don't really need your help, we practically control the city right now." The commander of the resistance was the same man it had been when they left them last time.

"That might be good enough for you, but we'd prefer an absolute rule. There's an eclipse coming that will leave the fire benders powerless. If we can free have Bumi as well as your backing we could probably try to capture the Fire Nation Capital." Sokka explained as he clambered out of the hole like a beached whale.

"All right then. With your numbers this'll be easy. We've been working on a tunnel system that runs through the whole city. The one place we can't go is to the top of the city. They've put a steel barrier and a furnace to make magma so there's no way we can get in."

"What would you guys do without me?" Toph was letting her special ability go to her head. No one could really stop her though because she was the only one who could do it.

"You're Toph Beifong? You're a legend around here!" Some yelled in the crowd causing her smile to grow even larger.

"Why am I thinking of Aang on Kyoshi Island?" Katara murmured under her breath, which caused Sokka to laugh, and Aang to blush a little bit.

The tunnel they were walking through was well lit, although the only thing that told Toph that was the feeling of the lamps. The tunnel stretched upward for a long ways, and then came to an abrupt stop because of a sheet of metal directly in its path.

"Okay stand back." Toph walked up to it, flexed her hands, making them crack, then tried to force the metal out of the way. She only succeeded in bruising her knuckles.

"It's a bit thicker than I thought." She said with a little embarrassment showing on her face, "But nothing I can't get through." She added with finality. She tried again with a little less force this time. It was more difficult to bend metal if there was earth on the other side stopping it, as well as the fact that this was thicker than she was used to. She continued to push it inwards and when it started to heat up from the magma on the other side she formed a tunnel out of it and they passed through shortly afterwards.

It was smooth sailing from there as Toph created a larger tunnel with the help of other resistance benders and eventually they were right under the peak and had a little cavern underneath it where they started to plan out Omashu's liberation.

Sokka started to give his idea for how they should go about it, "Our first step should be subtle. I think we should free Bumi first. He'll give us a big boost in power. After that we should form a ring and advance down Omashu until the Fire Nation is pressed into surrendering. The only place they'll be able to go is out of the city."

"That might work. The only problem will be towards the end. If we use your plan, the farther down we go the more likely it will be that the Fire Nation will break through our ranks and then they'll be able to flank us very easily." Hakoda pointed out.

"Me, Katara, and King Bumi should be able to push them back if they break through though, so no problems there." Aang suggested.

"No, you can't be in this at all Aang. If you were, if even one of their soldiers got away the Fire Lord could learn that you didn't die and then we'll lose that advantage when we invade the Fire Nation!"

"Wait, what are you talking about?"

"The Fire Nation thinks you're dead!"

"Oh, well, that's good, I guess." Aang was having some inner turmoil about the merits and cons of that realization, "Well, I can still earth bend right? I just won't use air or water bending."

"That's okay, but do you still think you'll be able repair damage to our line though?"

"You weren't down in the Crystal Catacombs with him. He'll be able to do that no problem." Katara answered, trying to back Aang up. She was nervous about it though. He wasn't even at half strength yet and she knew he'd push himself if the situation called for it.

"All right, you don't need to get so defensive!" Sokka went so far as to back up a little. You didn't mess with Katara when she had that look in her eyes.

Hakoda decided to get things back on track, "So our first step is to free King Bumi, then move down Omashu until the Fire Nation is pushed out completely."

"Yep, it's all done hill from here!" Sokka joked to a fanfare of groans, "Oh, come on! That was a good one!"

The gaang were the only ones to take on the first move of the liberation. They had made a hole through the very top of Omashu when night fell and Toph had started to try and find Bumi. When she couldn't Aang started looking through the sky and found Bumi snoozing in his coffin case over the construction site where he had been last time.

They tried to sneak up to the scaffolding that led up to him, but security was as tight as ever. They waited in the shadows while Sokka cut a hole through the wooden platform they were on and dropped down. Toph came down next and raised a bridge across from one building's scaffolding to the next.

Once they were across Sokka cut another hole through the floor and stuck his head out to see what situation they were in. They were directly under the main level of scaffolding and a short distance from the elevator that could raise them to Bumi. They all got out and Sokka started looking around for an oil can. If the elevator squeaked while they were going up their whole attack would lose the element of surprise and they'd have to contend with some serious fire bending if they were going to get out of there alive.

Once Sokka had dumped the whole can on the gears they got on an I-beam and Sokka kicked the switch and they shot skyward. Just before they reached the top Toph reached out and grabbed the rope and stopped them in their tracks.

She jumped back and Katara and Aang had to stop her falling off, "Owowow! Rope burn!" She was trying not to yell it, and they all hoped her voice didn't carry too much. No alarm was raised so they continued forward and walked up a short flight of stairs and walked onto the topmost level.

The top level was vacant of anyone and Aang quickly ran over to where Bumi was suspended, "Still using neutral jin?"

Bumi's eyes snapped open and he gave Aang his crazy grin, "Nope, full of positive now! I assume you brought the key to this thing." He sounded a little more sane than normal and that worried Aang.

He replied cheerfully though, "Nope, we got something even better!"

Toph walked up to the coffin and placed her hand on it, "Just a moment your majesty." Just before she was about to tear the whole front off Sokka ran up with another can of oil.

"How many of those did you take?" Katara asked.

"I figured we could use them during the fight. The stuff makes everything slippery and we can use it to make fire bending back fire on them!" Sokka explained.

"You know metal bending isn't exactly quite." Toph tried to point out.

"Mainly because of you." Katara said under her breath, "Just take the lock off." She said so Toph could hear. Toph did and the front of the coffin case swung open and Bumi stepped out and flexed, making almost every bone in his body crack. The sound echoed around the whole construction sight.

"Ah, that's much better! You have no idea how cramped I was in there!" Bumi had another luxurious stretch again and produced the same sickening, cracking sound.

"What are you doing? They'll know you're out now!" Sokka was ready to flip because he was well aware that they were standing on a giant wooden structure.

"I think you'll find that this place is already secured." Bumi swung his long arm around in the direction of the ground and Sokka peered over the edge and saw the guards were already falling back against the tide of the resistance and Hakoda's men.

"The resistance tried to break me out of that thing a few weeks ago and I told them the same thing I told Aang. They used neutral jin and waited for me to tell them when stop waiting. I told them when I worked the kinks out of my back I'd be ready to go!" Bumi explained with his crazy face returning. Sokka started swaying where he stood, not able to take the absurdity of the crazy old man was telling him.

"Are we gonna help or not?!" Toph yelled as she jumped on the coffin case and flew down to the ground, smashing through the wooden platform below and making a fair sized crater when she finally connected to the ground. The rest followed suit with Aang and Bumi last because Aang had been explaining what they're plan was.

"Is he always like that?" Toph asked Sokka as they raced to catch up to the main force.

"Yeah, pretty much. He's always a big crazy, ball of fun!" An exasperated Sokka replied.

"I think I like Omashu!" Toph said while trying t mimic Bumi's crazy face with a little success.

Katara was having more of a role to play in the battle than the rest of the reserves because she was the only that could take down the takes effectively. Aang was in the back and hating every second of it. He'd never felt so useless in his whole 112 years of life. He made himself feel useful by showing the other benders that Hakoda had brought with him how to take off the wheels of the tanks.

Once that was done Aang started to feel useless again and started looking for Sokka and Toph.

"Hey, Sokka! We might have a bit of a problem!"

"Oh no, what happened."

"Nothing yet. The way we're pushing them back though they'll have their backs up against a wall. We should take down sections of the wall so they can get out."

"Okay, I'll get Toph to take some sections down and get some bridges across."

"Uh, Sokka, is there anything else for me to do? I'm useless back here when I should be at the front helping."

"No, you know why you can't do that." Sokka paused for a second, "Take a ride on the mail system, that'll help bring the walls down.

Aang ran off sullenly. He felt he should be doing more even though he already had something else to do. Aang raced back up Omashu as fast as he could and took the first mail cart he could find. The ride down left him with a hole through the Fire Nation line and a man sized hole in the wall that the cart made after he bailed out of it. Aang went back through the Fire Nation line quickly and went to find another mail cart. This second run was far more eventful as it made for a section of wall that Toph had just taken down. The Fire Nation was also falling back to that position and Aang grabbed Toph on the way past before she had to contend with any of them.

Aang helped Toph bail from the cart and they swung down onto the underside where the waited for all the Fire Nation troops to get across. The resistance apparently didn't like to see their oppressors get off so easily because they dissolved the bridges, causing a large number of the troops to slide down the slope until they landed in a jumbled heap at the bottom of the pit surrounding Omashu.

This was unfortunate because the resistance was unaware that when they dissolved all the bridges they made Aang and Toph fall straight down. Without much choice Aang used his glider to get Toph and himself onto the steep slope where Toph made a small platform a moment later.

Next she made walls of earth on either side of where Aang thought everyone who had seen him bend would be. By the end of the day they had everyone one of the people that may have seen Aang air bend rounded up and locked away safely.

With the liberation successful Hakoda, Bumi, the gaang, and a few other leaders in the two groups were holding another meeting in Bumi's returned palace.

"You know, when they hear about this in Ba-Sing-Se they'll send some of their force over to try and retake it." Hakoda thought aloud.

"So what? It took ages for them to take Omashu in the first place!" Sokka countered his father's depressing idea.

"I don't think they would anyway." The comment made all heads turn towards Aang, "When Azula gets back to the Fire Nation they'll pull forces back to help them defend against our invasion. They'll only send troops after the eclipse is over." He concluded.

"You're forgetting something Aang." Bumi snorted once and continued, "If orders saying not to attack don't come from the Fire Lord in time then they'll attack anyway and then they'll be short a lot of uniforms in Ba-Sing-Se." Bumi was almost pouting for some reason by the end the sentence.

"Bumi, you're a mad genius!" Aang was grinning almost as wide as Bumi could and the others were just staring at them with confused expressions of varying degrees on their faces.

"We'll intercept whatever force Ba-Sing-Se sends towards us when they make camp. We'll take their uniforms and use them to gain access to Ba-Sing-Se." Aang explained to those who didn't understand Bumi's line of thinking.

"We can un-coup the city!" Sokka looked around but no one even seemed aware he tried to make a joke.

"If that's the case, then we'll do it when they go through forest north east of here." The leader of the resistance proposed, "They'll probably reach it in four or five days, depending on how long it takes word to get there. We should be able to set something up in time."


	4. The Happy Couple

Chapter Four: The Happy Couple

Zuko could just see the outline of the cities harbour. It wasn't dusk yet, but the volcano was blocking the sun making only the outline of the city show. It was a nice picture. Even Mai seemed to like it.

"_Maybe it's all the dark colors_." He thought.

His good mood was spoiled by Azula joining them on the deck, "It hasn't changed a lot since you left Zuzu. Everyone's just gotten older."

"And I guess dad hasn't changed either then?" Zuko asked. He hated himself for doing it but he couldn't resist. He knew that Azula would lie even when she didn't need to, so there was no way he could trust what she said.

"No he hasn't, he was waiting until you redeemed yourself, he always has been, but you knew that already, didn't you Zuzu?"

"Quit calling me that, it's a child's nickname!" Zuko knew he brought that on himself and it only got him madder until he thought the same thing he had been the whole ride home, "I didn't capture the avatar. What if he sees that as not redeeming myself?"

"The only reason dad wanted you to capture the avatar was so that he'd be out of the way for the war. He's out now so I doubt he'll be mad at you."

"But I wasn't the one that killed him."

"True, you probably couldn't have. But until you came I wasn't having a walk in the park with the avatar and that Water Tribe peasant. I might have had to use my Dai Lee agents much sooner. They always make a mess of things though, so things could've turned out much differently without you."

"Did you just give me a compliment?" Zuko mind was reeling, what could her motive possibly be for that?

"Yes, I did. You seemed so nervous about the state of your honour that it was all you ever talked about. It was starting to get on my nerves." She said it so flippantly that it was like she was talking a toddler and his favourite toy being taken away. This only got Zuko fire back up.

"Well what did you expect? I've been gone for two years for that reason; of course I'm going to be nervous!"

"Fine, just keep your voice down. There's a crowd waiting for us." Azula pointed towards the docks and sure enough, there was a huge throng of people around the docks with a few carriages present.

Ty-Lee rolled up out of nowhere, scaring Zuko, "Hey, Azula, why are all those ships following us?" She was pointing behind them towards the bay's opening.

"Those were just a distraction. There was a small Southern Water Tribe fleet guarding the entrance of Chameleon Bay. I had those ships tail us to stop them from trying anything. There's barely any crew on them though. Everyone's so worried about Ba-Sing-Se that everything else is taking a back seat. The ships were supposed to be coming back here anyways to ferry more troops across, I just put them to better use."

"Gosh, Azula, you're really smart." The shameless sucking up Ty-Lee was doing made Zuko want to throw up. Mai actually did.

Once they docked, the carriages picked them up and they were taken to the palace. Azula had been right. The palace looked exactly the same as when he had left. He could have even sworn the stable master that took away the ostrich horses hadn't changed at all. His mind was probably just playing tricks on him though.

Instead of being taken to the reception room outside the throne room, they were ushered into a side room and told to wait 'patiently'. Azula had given the servants a frosty glare, which made them run from the room like they were already on fire. The room was like everything else in the palace though. Despite being a side room it was still extremely spacious.

The 'patiently' part of the request wasn't exactly accurate because they didn't even have to wait long enough for Zuko to get fired up. Truth be told though, he probably wouldn't have. He was twiddling his thumbs and he was taking deep breaths. That fact was not lost to Azula who simply filed it away for later use.

A few minutes after they entered the room the door opened again and another person walked in. But he wasn't dressed like a servant.

"Hello honey. When did you get home?" The greeting was obviously directed towards Azula. The range of reactions that went through the room was extremely varied. Zuko started laughing so hard he started crying. Mai managed to keep her laughter inside, but you could tell she really wanted to. Ty-Lee gasped in shock and Azula started trying to blast her insulter.

This proved to be easier said than done because he darted around all her blasts. Azula was watching his movements and was reeling in her attacks so they didn't blast the walls to bits.

"_Who is this guy_?" she thought as he scooted around another of her attacks, "_And why did he talk like that to me?_"

"Rayk! I told you not come in here before me! And Princess Azula, stop attacking him!" Even Zuko knew whom the voice belonged to. It was undoubtedly Ozai, in all his imperious glory.

He walked into the room and glared at Rayk, "Now you know why I told you not to come in before me."

"I just wanted to see what she was capable of. She wouldn't go all out because she didn't want to damage any of the walls so I was safe from the more powerful strikes." Rayk explained nonchalantly. Azula's eyes narrowed because she knew that this guy wasn't a dime a dozen servant anymore.

With Rayk's explanation done Ozai tried to explain what was going on without telling them what was actually going on, "You weren't gone long, but a lot happened in that time. A few of the politicians backed me into a corner and in the end you were the price."

"Wait, how did they back you into the corner, who is they, and what did they do it with?" Azula wanted to get the facts straight here because something was making every warning system in her head go off.

"A few of the ministers dug something up on Fire Lady Ursa."

"Couldn't you just have them eliminated? The Minister of Intelligence would do it in a second." The first hole in his story was being tested.

"I would have if he hadn't been one of them. They also had envelopes set up and hidden that were 'in case the worst should happen open this'."

"And that's where I come in." Rayk looked to Ozai for approval to keep going and got it, "I was the one that became your fiancée."

Azula let the malice drip in her voice that would have made others run for the hills, "What are you supposed to be; the mastermind behind this whole thing?"

"No, I'm a pawn like you. I'm the son of the intelligence minister and I drew the short straw, so to speak, not that…Okay, there's no good way to say that, but you know what I mean."

The whole thing stunk and Azula was sure she'd have to get to the bottom of it if she was going to get rid of Rayk, "Okay, so what are you two doing to stop the black mailing scheme?"

Rayk answered, "So far, just trying to find the envelopes, which is difficult because they know we'll be looking for them. The only other thing I can do is to try and stop my dad from getting anything on me. I don't think I need to tell you that it is really difficult, him being what he is."

Ozai stepped in before Azula could start asking more questions, "Prince Zuko, I think it's time we talked." He had cut off Azula because she was asking too many questions. No lie was perfect and if she'd kept up her barrage for much longer theirs would have crumbled.

Once Ozai was out of the room Azula started again, "Ty-Lee, Mai, I don't think you need to be here anymore. Enjoy yourselves." The two girls left, Ty-Lee was staring daggers at Rayk and Mai wore her default expressionless mask.

"Now that they're gone, let's be frank. Tell me what you know, I really don't feel like having to torture it out of you." Azula ended with dark smile.

Rayk just smiled back, "I was intending on telling you everything anyways, some of this won't make any sense for awhile so don't bother trying to understand it all."

"You're not actually going to tell me everything, are you?" A small blue flame popped into existence in her hand.

"I would, but the situation the royal family is in right now is so outlandish you wouldn't believe me if I told you. Anyway, you slipped up a couple days ago without realizing it. You may not have noticed, but your dad has become pretty paranoid and your letter about the coup was the icing on the cake for him. Once he got that he went nuts and started thinking you'd try to usurp him."

"It's not such an extreme possibility." She began musing about the idea, but had to stop so she could listen again.

"Yes, but he thought imminent, like, days-after-your-return imminent. That's where I came in. He made me your fiancée so I could be his spy. I wouldn't have taken the job but my dad made me. Once those two had an alliance I gave it some thought and I think I'd trust you more than them if you can believe that."

"The lesser of two evils in other words."

"Yes, though those wouldn't be the exact words I chose." Rayk hadn't forgotten about the flame in her hand, "From what you said earlier you weren't planning anything like that. Your father believes that I'm as smart as you, if not more."

"You have got to be kidding me."

"I beet Iroh at pai-sho when I was ten."

After a long pause, "Okay, we're equals."

"I bet Fire Lord Ozai has already come to the same conclusion about me as he has about you. As soon as I lose any value in his eyes I'll disappear and he'll probably go after you as well to cut off any future attempt. For that reason you need to feed me fake information. I don't care how outrageous it is; at this point he'll believe anything."

"So if I don't lie, I'm dead? I don't see why this is such a big deal, what do you think I do here?"

Rayk let out a short sigh; she wasn't taking him seriously at all, "Normally, yes, this wouldn't be a big deal for either of us. What none of the royal family knows though is that the day of Black Sun is coming up and if he catches wind of that,"

"I'm interested to know how you came upon that little bit of information." She almost purred and that was the first time Rayk had to suppress a shudder.

"That would be where the outrageousness comes into play." He couldn't stop himself from smirking a little.

"Okay, you have my attention now."

"Do you know why Fire Lord Sozin started the war on the world?" Rayk asked, trying to get more of her interest. She needed to believe him if things were going to go according to plan.

"Yes, the Fire Nation was growing at an unheard of rate and he knew that Sozon's comet was coming and the powers that it gave us."

"Not exactly; you should know that Fire Lord Sozin was good friend of Avatar Roku. They stayed friends right up to the start of the war and there was no sign that there was a falling out. Fire Lord Sozin even came to Roku asking his advice before the war started on international trade with the Water Tribes. Nothing adds up to Sozin wanting to start a war.

My dad was part of the troop that stumbled on Wan Shi Tong's library. What he found in there was a sketchy document on the royal family from the same year as the war started and dated slightly earlier. It alluded to a black mailing scheme that involved Sozin. The same paper had a complex cipher on it for another document. My dad almost got it, but the rest of the troop was already burning everything related to the Fire Nation. He only got part of it and it had dates on it that are coming up. One was the day of Black Sun."

"You know you still haven't told me how you know that."

"You have two options: a cryptic answer or no answer."

"I like puzzles."

"If you know the Lotus will never bloom."

"You're annoying, did you know that?" She came as close to smiling as she was going to around him.

"I figured as much." Rayk found himself with an unwanted smile coming out on his face.

"So, what's your plan on what's going to happen?" She went straight back to business when she went back to her cold self.

"The group that started the war wanted the Fire Nation to win. For them to be able to get to the Fire Lord beforehand showed they were powerful, so I don't think we want them to succeed. For that to happen…"

"You don't want me to tell father about the invasion, do you?" Azula started grinning wickedly.

Rayk had been afraid this would happen, "To be honest I don't care if you tell him or not. It won't stop it from happening."

"But it would mean we'd lose the war if I didn't."

"No, it would mean that the head of the monarchy is gone. As long as any of the royal family survived to take up the throne you would still win. Your army has enough ambitious generals in it that taking out the Fire Lord would just create a hydra. When the day does come he has to die and peace has to be made with the world or else the group that started all this will win and I doubt that will benefit you." He concluded with finality.

That didn't stop Azula from carrying on the conversation, "Since you're betrothed to me, doesn't that make you second for the throne? Zuko wouldn't be that hard to get rid of one way or another would he?"

"I don't want the throne. If for some reason he dies, you can have it. I'll sign off on it if you want me to. Your father knows that already and he'll talk to you about it soon."

"You're the first person that I can't find an ulterior motive for. I think I'll keep you around."

"Unless you believe what I've told you I won't have one." Azula just gave him a cruel smile before leaving the room, leaving Rayk to contemplate the knife's edge he walked.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You have redeemed yourself Prince Zuko. The avatar is dead and Ba-Sing-Se has fallen. If not for the part you played in it your home could have lost two valuable people." Ozai walked around Zuko while he gave the praise and Zuko knew he should feel fulfilled, but his father reminded him of a panther-snake with the way he kept circling him. It went without saying whom the two valuable people where: him and his sister.

"You have gained my respect and I accept you as my son and I restore your honour." Ozai finished. It gave Zuko a good feeling inside him, though not as joyous as he had expected.


	5. Keep Your Enemies Closer

Chapter Five: Keep Your Enemies Closer

The five of them stood glaring at meadow and the ocean view beyond it. Then they all turned around at the same time and watched the carriage ride away towards the city. When it went out of sight Rayk's presence was felt whether he wanted it to be or not. Now that Zuko was standing beside him he noticed that he was taller than Rayk was if only by a few inches. Rayk's clothes seemed baggier, showing him to be less muscled than Zuko; he was built more like a gymnast than an actual fighter. His hair was cut higher and his eyes were a duller shade of gold than Zuko's.

"I can see why he sent you three away, but why us?" Mai complained.

"He had a war meeting and he wanted some privacy. From what I found out it's pretty sensitive." Azula explained. It was evident to her and Rayk though that Ozai just wanted Rayk to try and weasel some information out of her.

"Then why do we have to be here?" Ty-Lee complained, "I had a date." She started to pout.

Azula and Rayk had a conversation within a single glance on whether or not to tell them why they were actually here, "Well, the cottage is near here. They're bound to have a messenger hawk, so you could tell him where you are at least. He might even be able to make it out here." Rayk offered.

Ty-Lee immediately brightened up, "Oh, so that's what's out here! I thought we got sent out here for a picnic or something!" With the ball of pink happy again they started across the meadow towards the tree line on their right.

"You think they could have dropped us off closer. Who would have a cottage built so far off the road?" Mai couldn't believe how easy it was for Zuko to get irritated these days.

"Actually, our bumbling uncle had it built before he went off to fail at Ba-Sing-Se." Azula informed him. It made Zuko madder to hear her talk about Iroh that way.

He reeled in his emotions before she started needling him, "I could see him doing that. He probably didn't want to wreck the view from the road." He didn't realize how easy it was for him to get into Iroh's head.

If a real estate agent had to describe the cottage they would have called it rustic. No one had been there for a while so everything was dusty on the inside. The outside was none the worse for wear though. The cottage was a single floor and was about the same size as regular house. As they looked through it Iroh's taste became increasingly obvious. There were numerous teapots throughout the cottage and there was a large cupboard with all kinds of different herbs to make tea with. There was also a water pump outside so you didn't have to go to the ocean to get it. The biggest giveaway though was the picture of Lu-Ten and Iroh standing at the ocean's coast with big smiles on their faces. Now Zuko knew why Iroh never came to this place anymore.

"Well, your fuddy-duddy uncle had some good taste!" Ty-Lee had taken off a layer of dust in the living room and showed the walls to have a floral motif.

"Oh no. Is the rest of this place going to be like that?" Mai was looking at Zuko with a look that was begging him to say no.

"Uncle Iroh had a unique taste; I think that's as bad as his son would let him get though." Zuko tried to console her. Just thinking of Iroh though made memories of him come back to whip up a storm in his. He started to second-guess his choices again.

"So, does this place have a fireplace? I could use a little heat." Rayk walked back into the room after he was done inspecting the house.

"You're not a bender?" Zuko said with a little surprise. Azula got an interesting expression on her face.

"No, why does that matter?"

"The whole Royal Family are benders, so it's weird for father to bring in someone that isn't."

"You're in line for the throne and you have Mai, why am I the weird one?"

Zuko shrugged, realizing the contradiction.

"How do you fight though? I mean, your father is the Intelligence Minister, so you must have some special stuff to do." Ty-Lee was angling for information, but he didn't mind, he'd make it into a fair exchange anyway.

"Why do you people assume non-benders are helpless? You two can't bend either, so why am I thought of as weak?" Rayk kept his voice calm, though a little of his irritation was allowed through, "My dad's been teaching me since I was small. I'm proficient with hand-to-hand, single and doubled handed weapons, and quite a few projectiles."

"Try these then." Mai was bored and decided on her entertainment. She launched a knife so that it would whiz past his face. It would show him how outclassed he was. He disproved this as he caught the knife between two fingers and started to give an appraising look.

"Built for a launcher, not very good for a regular throw because of the lack of a handle." He tossed it back to her and she quickly reloaded it while giving him a sour face. It still didn't look like her face changed, but it still somehow gave the impression she was angling for.

"So you're good with projectiles, you two are obviously benders, what does the pinky bring to your group?"

Rayk was trying to get Ty-Lee a little angry, but it backfired as she took it for a compliment, "I can make people go numb and I can do this!" She rolled into a ball and came out doing a single fingered handstand, showing her acrobatics, after which she rolled and tried to make his arm numb to illustrate her first point. Rayk lowered his shoulder so she'd hit it instead.

She retreated back to the couch, her face matching her clothes because of her thwarted attempt. Azula was looking at Rayk with an expression that made him nervous. She'd already shown that he was at their level, so she probably already had plans in motion for him.

He let himself be distracted by Zuko so he could forget about Azula's gaze, "I can use broad swords too. Not just bending." Zuko added. Rayk was guessing a sibling rivalry was at work there, though it wasn't reciprocated as Azula only yawned.

Rayk was a little put out. He'd wanted to learn more about them than what he'd already read about them. He decided on a different tack, "Where did you learn that stuff?" It was directed towards Mai and Ty-Lee, which wasn't lost on Azula.

"I was in the circus, until Azula came." She stopped there and Rayk noted a little anger there he might be able to use later if needed to.

"I needed something to get rid of my boredom for a while, so, I got these." Mai's explanation was just as dull as Rayk had expected, though he wouldn't have minded if she said how long mastery had taken. It would have told him her aptitude for learning at least.

"And the broad swords came from?" Rayk was genuinely interested in that part, as he hadn't read about it at all.

"I picked it up during my exile. I was in the Earth Kingdom for a while and needed something other than bending to protect myself. Fire bending usually wasn't a good idea." Rayk knew he was only getting half the story, so he filed it away for investigation a little later.

He decided he had a more pressing matter that he needed to be a little trickier in getting to, "Did you ever have to fight them?" it was directed at Zuko.

"No, though I did come close to fighting her." He shrugged in Azula's general direction.

"Didn't you two have the same tutor? I'm assuming same family so same lessons." He knew that it was blatantly obvious what he was doing to Azula now, but he figured that her interest would prevent her from doing anything, which it did.

"No, she went to the Fire Academy for Girls. I was taught by a tutor and Uncle Iroh when I was gone."

"Didn't Ty-Lee go to school with you?" He was sticking his neck out because it contradicted earlier assumptions, but it went unnoticed, "Yes she did, Mai as well." Azula was feigning boredom that matched Mai, and doing it very well. If Rayk didn't know she was always thinking he would have said she was like Mai.

"If you went to the same school, then where did you learn Chi Blocking? They don't teach that in schools." Rayk had switched his questioning to Ty-Lee.

"I learned it when I was in the circus! I needed to in case some of the animals got out of hand, but I was friends with all of them so I didn't need it." Rayk was seriously considering that Ty-Lee had some kind of mental deficiency, no one could be happy all the time.

Rayk didn't bother with Mai because he already knew why she turned out like she did. He knew about her father and figured an oppressed childhood had made her bottle up her emotions. He didn't want to be around when it blew.

Ty-Lee on the other hand was a little more difficult as he hadn't known much about her before he met her. It was very rare for someone to have a feel for something that stuck out as much as her pink did, so he could guess that she came from a large family or close knit community where it was difficult to stand out. Other than that he was clueless, as he knew squat about her past.

"No offense meant, but being sent off to school isn't the best. You have to put up with a bunch of old cranky people, so I don't see why you actually went there willingly." Rayk was just getting the icing on the cake now. Soon he'd have all the information he needed to stay on top of things.

"What did you do that's so great then?" Mai asked.

"Me? I got taught by people that actually _know_ me. My dad and uncle taught me. My uncle was the weapons teacher. My dad was better with projectiles."

"If you ladies are done, I'd prefer actually doing something today." Zuko huffed.

"Yeah, I'd like to do something. This is boring." Mai seconded. 'Wow, didn't see that one coming', Rayk thought. On the other hand, it showed the Mai actually cared about Zuko. She'd cut off Azula before she could start needling Zuko some more.

The rest of the day they mostly spent apart. Mai and Zuko wandered off into the forest to 'hunt' something. It was blatantly obvious to everyone they just wanted to be alone. Ty-Lee had almost popped the lie, but had been dragged off by Rayk before she could.

Azula and Rayk wandered off a little later to make some information Rayk had _somehow_ managed to get out of her. Ty-Lee was left by herself until her date showed up and they happily spent the rest of the day inside the cottage, trying to make the different kinds of tea.

It was getting near sunset when the carriage came to pick them up and Zuko and Mai almost missed it. By the time they got back to the palace the sun was down and they were all yawning a lot. Rayk hated that he was tired because he knew the Fire Lord would be keeping him up until he satisfied his inane thirst for information about a non-existent threat.


	6. Stricken Honor

Chapter Six: Stricken Honour

Sokka came into the room where a drowsy Katara, Aang and Toph were trying to sleep. Once he came in the all sat bolt upright in their beds.

"I guess that means you want to know what happened" The final outline for retaking Ba-Sing-Se had dragged on for a long time. The resistance leader had come back once he'd given his men the orders and started to hammer out an actual plan with details that went right to the end of the liberation. Sokka had opted to stay up, as he was the best one at that sort of thing out the gaang.

"Well, assuming that we get all the uniforms without any problems, we'll wait for a while so it doesn't look to suspicious, then head back to Ba-Sing-Se. Once we're back inside, we'll split up into three groups. One will head to the prisons to get the Council of Five out." They all knew that he would be in that group as there was a good chance Suki was there as well, "The second will take out the force the Fire Nation has suppressing Ba-Sing-Se's army. Right now they're broken and guarded by Fire Nation soldiers. If we can release them and get the generals leading them the rest will take care of itself."

"Uh, Sokka, you missed a group." Aang felt a little obligated to point it out.

"No, you just, interrupted me, yeah, interrupted me."

"Right…" Katara's sarcasm was impossible to miss.

"Do you want to know or not!?"

"Yes, yes, get on with the grand plan!" Toph waved her arms from her spot on the floor. Blankets made her vision do weird things.

Sokka glared at her for a second then started again, "The **third** group will be storming the palace to try and find Long-Feng and get rid of all the Dai Lee agents. Anybody have any specific they want to do?"

"What has breaking stuff in it?" Toph asked, causing Sokka to roll his eyes in annoyance.

"Toph, we're liberating Ba-Sing-Se. They _all_ involve breaking stuff."

"All right then." She put a thoughtful expression on her face, but didn't move it; it was a disconcerting trick; "I'll help in the jails since you're probably going to need a metal bender there." As soon as she was done she flopped down, an earth popped tent popped up around her and she went to sleep.

"I'll help with freeing the army. Someone will need some healing if that's the main fight." Katara reasoned.

"I'll help there too. It'll help speed things up with army freed." Aang added. He also wanted to make sure nothing happened to Katara, but he didn't have the courage to say it openly.

"All right then, Toph is with me." You could already hear her snoring, "And Aang and Katara are together for freeing the army." Since they'd all chosen, Sokka went back to tell the remaining officers and then went to bed and was out like a light in minutes.

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Cho-Sung was in a good mood. Up until this point he had been an average Fire Nation soldier, a face in the crowd, soldier number 538. He was determined he would make his name with the re-re-taking of Omashu. There would be plenty of opportunities for greatness since they would still have a weak defence. It was for this reason that he felt slightly disappointed when the rock smashed into the back of his head. Then he felt pain, then nothing, as he fell to the ground unconscious. The same thing was happening throughout the whole camp as nearly a hundred earth benders popped out of the ground and went on to take out a few soldiers each before anyone realized what was going on!

The forest had provided excellent cover for the latecomers from the resistance. They had made it to the ambush point a day before the Fire Nation had. They'd hollowed out a cave underneath and had prepared the trap. When the Fire Nation arrived and made camp, they moved into position and sprung it.

Many of them took out single soldiers with rock projectiles. A few stayed under the ground and raised the trees and used the dirt in their root balls as a machine gun and mowed down numerous soldiers with the hundreds of clumps of dirt that made up the root balls. The whole group of nearly 400 hundred soldiers was out before any real fighting even broke out. Where it did, they were crushed immediately as the soldiers were outnumbered by extreme odds.

Word of the traps success reached Omashu by the next morning and the gaang set out with the rest of their force, leaving a group of 50 benders behind to shore up Omashu's defence until they got back. The one time Fire Nation camp had done a complete 180 by the time they got there. There were huge stacks of uniforms everywhere and you could hear the occasional Fire Nation soldier crying for his mommy inside the giant earthen box that had popped out of the ground to keep them from escaping.

It was obvious that the soldiers were becoming a problem because Omashu was still just getting back to the old way of life and there wasn't enough food to keep them all eating or even clothed in anything but their underclothes for that matter. Sokka told Bumi this and the old man actually got a thoughtful expression on his face and wandered off, apparently thinking about it.

It took a long time to find any uniforms that actually fit Toph and Aang. In the end, they cut one down for Aang and opted to have Toph just tunnel underneath them as she was nearly half the size of many of them.

The whole process didn't take too long so soon they were all looking around for something to do. Toph started teaching Aang some more earth bending and Sokka started scrutinizing some maps of Ba-Sing-Se. Katara went around for a few minutes and healed anything worse than a paper cut anyone got during the ambush. There were only a few, mostly from someone accidentally hitting their own.

"Hey, what's going to happen to us?" Everyone looked towards the earth box that the Fire Nation soldiers were trapped in. This sparked some conversation as no one had any idea what to do with 400 soldiers that would probably try and attack once they got out. They couldn't just leave them there either.

"We could put them in the Crystal Catacombs once we take back Ba-Sing-Se. They couldn't get out and there's food and water down there." Sokka was trying to spit ball some ideas, but it wasn't working because all of them weren't very good.

"Are your officers in there?" Hakoda shouted.

"Yes, I'm Captain Xing and there are some others in here as well." Another voice came from inside, firmer than the last one had been.

"Everyone that's an officer, raise your hand." Hakoda shouted, "Toph you got them?"

"Yep, what do you want to do?"

"Bring them out here so we can talk." A few seconds later the ground burped out ten fire benders he looked around like they'd been drinking cactus juice.

"I think we should discuss the terms of you surrender captain." Hakoda said with a smile as it was really just the terms part they would talk about.

Xing returned the smile, "Yes, I don't think you have anywhere to put us do you?"

"We haven't really thought about it actually. I'm sure we could find somewhere though."

Xing's smile shrunk, "Would it help if I gave you my word you won't be attacked until we rejoin our main army?"

"You realize that we're going to be taking out your main army?"

"I do have national pride sir and it dictates that I answer that you won't. We are men of honour though I will honour what I said before."

"What if you're locked up with them?"

"We won't cause any problems."

"And until then?"

"I realize that you're short food. We'll help with the farms around Omashu. I don't let my men get lax, and we could all use some food. We'll give what we don't use to the city."

Hakoda was nearly left speechless; he hadn't thought of Fire Nation officers as being like that at all, "All right, I'm assuming the officers in Ba-Sing-Se don't share your thinking though."

"That's why I got sent out here." Xing gave a laugh before Toph made the ground swallow him up, along with the other officers. There were a few groans inside the box, then Toph lowered it and Xing marched out with his contingent towards Omashu wearing only a pair of underwear and an undershirt, marching with as much dignity as they could. Sokka and Aang could barely contain their laughter and got dirty looks from a few people when they finally burst. Katara and Toph were on the ground moments later with them, clutching their sides in mirth.

The combined force of Omashu and the Southern Water Tribe waited two days before setting out for Ba-Sing-Se. When they did they took their time getting there and Sokka and Hakoda worked out plans for each of the main groups once they got inside. The groups would stay together, then split up the moment someone wasn't watching them and attack each of their targets.

The assault on the jail would be in tandem with the assault on the palace since the Dai Lee agents would undoubtedly try to protect Long-Feng now that Azula was gone. The attack on the jail would serve to smoke them out. Once the jail was attacked they would hold the entrance and clear the rest of the building of Fire Nation troops and free the prisoners. Once that was done they would split up with the earth benders making a back entrance so they could take any counter attack with a two pronged strike.

The attack on the palace was less difficult. It would be stormed and the group would fan out quickly to try and pin down Long-Feng, then call for back up. They knew there was a high chance he would be in the palace since he would inevitably break out of jail. With him out of the picture, there wouldn't be the threat of another coup so the Earth King's throne would be secured.

Freeing the army would be more difficult and could fail fairly easily. Small groups would attack each of the holding areas simultaneously and try to strike deep into the fortification before the alarm was raised. If that could be done then the piece of the army they were working towards would be able to back them up on the fight out again. If the alarm was raised to early, it would be nearly impossible to break them out. It was because of that problem that it was decided that the rest of the attacks would only happen once the alarm was raised, signalling their cover was blown.

Once that had all been worked out, Sokka had to convince Aang to cover his arrow, which wasn't easy. In the end, he convinced him by telling him that stealth was needed and that meant that they should be wearing some type of camouflage. That seemed to pacify Aang who grudgingly agreed.

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Hakoda led the march up to the gaping hole in the once great wall of Ba-Sing-Se and stopped once they reached the improvised gate.

"Omashu has fallen for the last time." Hakoda said once he bowed to the general that had come to greet them.

"So soon, Captain…?"

Hakoda racked his brain for a Fire Nation and almost spit it out, "Captain Mushi, and yes very soon. The group that had tried to retake it didn't have the time to get it'd defences ready. We marched in and retook it with very little effort."

"But where is Captain Xing? Wasn't he leading this division?" The man's voice was stern and snappish.

"Yes, he stayed behind to make sure nothing else is tried. He also found a very good tea shop that he likes and is planning to,"

"Yes, yes, yes. Go on through and head back to the barracks. You'll be debriefed tomorrow morning. At your leisure until then." Hakoda's trick had worked. The general had struck him as a little impatient, so he started to bombard him with useless tidbits to stop more questioning.

It was extremely fortunate that their division was large enough that it actually got its own own barracks. Albeit it was jammed in between to others, but they didn't have to worry about other soldiers looking for the bunk buddies or anything like that. They used the time they had left and got ready. All the Fire Nation uniforms were thrown on the bunks. Next, black shirts and pants were taken out along with some arm and leg guards. Katara got a big water skin and tied around her waist and filled it with water. Aang grudgingly pulled a balaclava over his head and hid his glider underneath his bunk. He was less than a face in the crowd now, now he was just a set of eyes.


	7. The Freedom of Walls and Secrets 1

Chapter Seven: Freedom of Walls and Secrets Part 1

Katara was having a hard time keeping behind Aang when they started making their way towards the holding area. It had been obvious that they should be wearing black, and that Aang should be hiding his arrow, but the two shouldn't have been combined! All she had to go on was the occasional flash of white skin that showed through the slit in the mask he was wearing.

They continued towards the holding area, sometimes hearing the brush of feet on ground that belonged to the other groups going after other sections of the holding area. Once they got closer Katara had an easier time seeing Aang because of the small Fires that dotted the area before the metal wall rose out of the ground. There were usually a few guards sitting around them, but they didn't see anything as Aang and Katara flew by them with a sound. The whole thing was going exactly as Aang had played it out in his head. They hadn't had any problem in getting to the holding area. He was still having doubts though as almost nothing ever went their way.

The steel wall would have been easy to get over normally. It was made more difficult by the numerous guards that were stationed along the top. The only silver lining was that there number provided was that they were inattentive because of it. None of them were actually paying any attention to what was going on within or without.

"Aang, we didn't plan how to get over this!" Katara hissed next to him once they were right up against the wall.

Trying to look cool, Aang replied, "Relax, I got everything under control." He backed up and took aim at the nearest guard who was leaning against one the lantern posts that were spaced around the perimeter.

"Aang, are you crazy? If someone sees you your secret will get out!"

Aang put his finger to his lips and did something that looked like the water bending technique for pulling water towards you. Katara watched with curiosity as the guard woke up groggily, got a scared expression on his face, and then slumped back against the post. The other guards went none the wiser.

"What did you do to him?" Katara had a good idea and was slightly shocked that Aang had done it.

"I knocked him out. I made a vacuum around his head so he couldn't breathe. I stopped as soon as he was unconscious." His face contorted slightly as another thought came into his head, "You thought I killed him, didn't you?" Katara nodded sadly, feeling guilty she'd doubted him. Aang proceeded to do the same to the other guards around the first one until they were all out.

"Jump when I tell you too." Now Katara definitely knew what he was doing, "Now!" She jumped and felt a strong gust of air push her farther upward until she landed on the top of the wall. Aang landed beside her a moment later.

"Okay, there's a captain somewhere around here. We need to find him and get the keys he has." Aang knew she knew that already, but said it to keep it fresh in their minds. He'd been doing that since he left the barracks with her.

They both started to squint along the wall to see if they were lucky and he was close. They didn't get done though because of the other groups used their improvised front door. A massive explosion wracked the holding area next to them and all the guards snapped out of their reveries and raced to see what had caused the explosion.

This meant that some of them had to go past where Aang and Katara where standing. The oncoming guards didn't seem to realize that something was amiss along the wall until they were very close to Aang and Katara. Aang sent a powerful air blast down the length of the wall and blew most of the guards into the enclosed area where the men down below who were looking upwards like piranhas promptly knocked them out.

Aang shouted down in hops they might have gotten lucky, "Do any of them have a set of keys?"

A reply came a few moments later, "Not anymore!" Aang hopped down to retrieve the keys as the remaining guards seemed to realize that there was something wrong in their section as well. Katara held them back when Aang went to go get the keys. She used her ever present water skin and froze the first few guards in place to block the rest then she went to see what was taking Aang so long.

As soon as she stuck her head over the side of the wall two things happened: the guards shoved their frozen comrades to the side and raced towards the unknowing Katara and Aang shot back up from the ground and landed next to her.

The closest guard to them already had his spear lowered and gave a yell, which made Katara whip around in surprise. Before she could freeze him in place Aang stepped between them, pushed the spear to the side so it narrowly missed his head, grabbed it, and forced it backward so hit the guard in the chest. The guard stumbled backward, the wind knocked out of him. Aang used the opportunity to blast him backward with the water from the frozen guards and send most of the guards flying like bowling pins. Katara was still partly in shock at having the close shave with death, but recovered enough to walk towards the gate of the holding area and unlock it while Aang took care of the rest of the guards.

Once he was done he caught back up to Katara before she joined the mass of soldiers that was streaming out of the gates, "You've gotta be more careful Katara! You almost got killed there!" It was lucky he had the balaclava on, it hid how fearful he sounded.

"Aang, you don't have to be so worried, I can take care of myself, and I can only stand one overprotective person around me and Sokka's already filling it. Thank you for doing that though." She smiled gratefully at him if he hadn't been wearing the mask she would've seen how red his face got.

The troops continued spilling out of the gate and out towards the city. Aang could see Hakoda leading them towards the inner wall and the jail that Aang hoped was being emptied by Sokka.

"Aang, we're going to need some help here!" Aang snapped out of his reverie once he heard Katara's worried voice. He jumped into the air so he could see the problem and groaned. Tanks were rumbling towards them in an attempt to stop their charge. Aang landed and ran as fast as the wind to the front where Hakoda and Katara were and started to cause mayhem in the ranks of the tanks (I know it rhymed and I'm ashamed of it.).

Aang spun the ground under some of the tanks so they crashed into others. Katara started cut the treads off of them once they got close enough. This put numerous tanks out of business, but more kept coming as they always seemed to.

"Remind me to yell at the Mechanist if we run into him again!" Aang yelled as another pair of tanks crashed into each other. Katara nodded her approval as the pile of treads she was creating grew again.

The tank's numbers dwindled, but they'd served their purpose. They'd stalled them long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Swarms of Fire Nation troops started to pour from between the rows of tanks, yelling war cries as they did.

"Aang, we need to scare them! They're leaderless, so if we can scare them a little we can open a hole in the front." Hakoda had figured out the lack of leaders by the lack of discipline. If their captain had been there they would've been far more cohesive than just using a wanton charge.

Aang followed the advice by encasing himself inside a body made of earth. He piled rocks onto it and made it bigger and bigger until it was two stories tall. He charged into the enemy ranks and sent people flying through the air. When this didn't scare them he added floating faces around himself and added a fearsome looking goblin face to his body. This got the desired effect as he heard people yelling stuff like 'demon!', and 'spirit don't hurt me!' The troops scattered before him and he made stonewalls to block out the troops from coming back.

He dissolved the body and landed next to Katara and Hakoda again, "I'll cover our back. You two make sure our path isn't blocked by anything." Before Katara could say she was coming with him he vanished in a gust of wind. Katara fought her way through the tide of soldiers until she saw moving black standing against a mass of Fire Nation troops, some of whom were still screaming and running around like they'd gone crazy.

When Katara drew level with him she heard him start to talk, "Was I really that scary?"

"Floating heads and a demon face? You'd give Sokka nightmares for sure."

"Yeah, but prickly snakes do too, so that's not saying much." They both let a little laugh, which seemed to suck the panic out of the Fire Nation troops. Aang took a calming breath and made a wall shoot out of the ground to block the entrance.

A few seconds later the soldiers had climbed on top of the wall and had Aang and Katara surrounded in moments.

"You do the honours?" Aang asked, still just a hint of worry in his voice. They'd been in far worse pinches than this.

"No, I insist they're all yours." Katara gave Aang a smile, which filled him with confidence. Aang sent the soldiers flying skyward by earthen pillars from the walls and ground.

As soon as the first wave of soldiers were in the air a new batch replaced them and didn't wait for the same thing to happened. They jumped off the wall and were shot back out of the wall by a new series of rock pillars that were jutting out from around Aang's feet.

"If you get bored, let me know. You could stop them from just walking around the wall to where it ends."

"Toph'll be ready for them, but we should try you catch up with them shouldn't we?"

"Yeah, just a little while longer should do." Aang grunted as he sent another wave of soldiers skyward. A second later a tank smashed through the wall, then another and another.

"I'm probably going to need your help now." Aang muttered.

Katara looked at him side long, "Oh no, there's only a hundred, you'll do fine." She made a gesture with her arms to further her point, and sent two water whips towards the soldiers. The shock of what just happened to them was short lived as they charged seconds later.

"There's no point in fighting this many!" Aang yelled over the soldier's yells. Katara nodded and Aang picked her up and raced off, leaving the bewildered soldiers where they were. Aang dissolved the walls shortly thereafter. Now they just had to meet up with Sokka and the council and pray that Bato and his group had found Long-Feng in the palace.


	8. The Freedom of Walls and Secrets 2

Chapter Eight: The Freedom of Walls and Secrets Part 2

Sokka chanced a look over the wall his group was hiding behind at the royal jail. He could see multiple guards along each level of the imperious looking building.

"What's taking Aang and Katara so long? We don't have all night!" Sokka almost yelled, then immediately started to whisper.

"Sokka, calm down! We do have all night to do this! We'll probably have our part done in half an hour so quit the nervous shaking. It's making my vision fuzzy." Irritation was showing on Toph's face as she stared at some point to Sokka's right.

"You know I'm over here right?"

"Oh! It looked like there were three of you. I thou," she never got a chance to finish as the whole group lurched because of an explosion that lit up the night sky in the direction of the holding areas.

"I'm guessing that was their signal!" Toph yelled over the sound blast that hit them a second later. A second later they were under the ground and there was a solid roof over their heads. Sokka's group lit their torches and followed Toph, stopping every little while for her to make it longer.

A minute later the tunnel stopped as a metal wall appeared in the end of it. Toph tore a hole through it big enough for them to go through three at a time. They extinguished their torches as the inside was well lit with burning torches.

The group fanned out around the floor to search for prisoners and guards. There were no guards so Toph was called to the cells that had people in it. They were told to wait in the back of the tunnel once Toph had torn the door of their cell. There weren't any benders down because of the closeness of the earth.

When they moved up a floor they hit their first resistance. There was a small group of guards patrolling the hallway. The jail had been put on alert because of the explosion, but the guards didn't check the stairs because the basement was supposed to be surrounded by a metal wall, so no one could get in or out. They walked right by the stair and Sokka and a few others snuck up behind them and knocked them out. The only sound was the ringing helmets the guards had been wearing.

Once again, the group fanned through the floor with a group staying behind to guard the entrances against more guards. This time there were a few small skirmishes and the few healers in the group set to work healing the few burns that had been sustained. There were more people on this level and a few benders that hadn't been there long decided to go along with them, glad to be of help in return for their freedom.

The higher up the building they moved the more nervous Sokka became. He'd expected to find Suki in the first few floors because she hadn't been a bender, but there hadn't been a single Kyoshi warrior there. It also didn't help the higher they got the fewer cells there were per floor and the more guards there were.

When they got to the third highest Toph could feel Sokka's heart going like a humming-wasp. They were about to go to the next floor because there wasn't anyone on this floor when Toph stopped and squinted a little bit.

"I think someone's here." She muttered under her breath.

She dug her feet into the metal to get a better picture, "Yeah, there is. I think he's in the cell over there." She hopped out of the metal and walked over to the cell.

"We checked that one already Toph. There's no one in there." Sokka was pleading with her because he was still hoping to find Suki.

"Who's that then?" Toph asked when she threw the door from its hinges and let more light into the cell cramped cell. Hanging from the wall was what looked like carrion. Sokka jumped back in shock at the thought that whatever it hung there was still alive.

One of the healers came forward with water already glowing around her hands and started to examine the boy that was on death's door, "He's barely alive, inconsistent heart beat." She was panicking a little as she worked frantically to stabilize him. Toph was by her moments later and they had him on the ground. The other two healers came forward and started to help.

One started calling out the list of problems over her shoulder as she worked, "Severe burns, numerous broken bones, extreme malnutrition, head trauma, blood loss, infections in most of the burns, how is he still alive?!" He was unlucky too as he woke up then and immediately wheezed in pain. It would have been louder, but it was all he could manage.

"Okay, most of you stay here and protect the healers and our exit. Me, Toph and five other are going up to get the council...assuming that there being held here." He added with a little dejectedness.

Before they got to the next stairway Toph stopped him again, "I just saw something and you're not going to like it."

Sokka's blood went cold, "Long-Feng is on the top floor with at least twenty Dai-Lee agents. They're around the council and some other people."

Sokka got a little sour happiness when he heard that. It made sense that the others were the Kyoshi warriors as everyone in there was probably in there because they knew about the invasion plan.

"Okay, just give me a second to think." Sokka sat at the foot of the stairs and tried to think of a plan that got them out of this alive, "Okay, can you get the warriors around Long-Feng through the floor?"

"What do you think?"

"Okay, I'll go in and draw their attention. When everything is as good as it gets, spring them. We'll use Long-Feng as leverage to get the rest out." Sokka knew that it had plenty of problems, but it the best he could do. They walked solemnly to the next floor and Sokka continued on his own to the top floor.

The door was open and he walked in calmly, "Long-Feng."

"Ah, the Water Tribe peasant, so glad you could make it." Agni, Sokka hated that voice!

"Azula isn't here anymore, you can let them go." It was worth a shot, he thought.

"No, you see that I join whoever has more power. Right now I'm thinking the Fire Nation over a decrepit and dieing world, wouldn't you?"

"If you let them go you won't be hurt."

Normally Long-Feng would laugh at that, but something in the way the kid had said it made him suspect something. A second later there were five water tribe warriors surrounding him with a murderous look in their eyes.

"I really think you should release them now." Sokka grinned at him.

"You idiot!" Sokka froze from Long-Feng's icy tone, "The Dai-Lee don't follow me, they follow Azula! They won't follow my orders if it contradicts hers at all! You haven't done anything!"

"This might help then!" Toph's voice echoed up from the holes in the ground as the Dai-Lee fell through the floor to be knocked out moments later.

Sokka scanned the faces quickly, looking for Suki. She was there, though unconscious like the rest of the council and the other Kyoshi Warriors.

"Okay, grab them and get them out of here and to the rendezvous point. You might want to knock Long-Feng o," his men didn't even wit for him to finish before smacking the traitor and knocking him out.

When they came back down the stairs to the rest of the group the healers were still working on the prisoner like mad.

One turned to them to catch them up, "We've managed to dull the pain and clean out his wounds. We can't help with many of the bones, but we're helping with the burns and other cuts and bruises. He said he knew you. His name's Haru."

Sokka eyes almost popped out of his head, "WHAT!"He ran to Haru's side to try and figure out what he was doing here, "Haru, why aren't you with your dad at your village?"

Haru managed to reply in a raspy voice, "We moved them all to Ba-Sing-Se a month before the coup happened. Once we got here our defensive force joined their army to help out where we could. I got moved upwards fairly quickly and I apparently came to know some important information. That's what the Fire Nation thought anyway. It might have helped if I hadn't taken out a battalion before they got me."

A pain filled smile spread across his face and Sokka returned it with a warm one, "Wait a little longer and you'll be out of here." Sokka motioned to Toph and she made something that approached a stretcher pop out of the ground. Haru was lifted onto it and the rest of the group proceeded down the stairs in front of them.

Once they were down a good portion Toph started trying to get information out of Sokka, "So, I'm guessing you knew him before me?"

"Yeah we did. His village was under Fire Nation control and it was outlawed to earth bend there. If you did you got sent to a prison ship where there wasn't any earth to bend. Katara framed herself and got sent there so she could help him get his people's courage back. It worked and they escaped the prison ship and went back to defending their village."

"She had a crush on him like Jet didn't she?" Toph smirked; knowing the discomfort a question like this caused Sokka.

"NO...well, maybe. She got a little red when he gave her a compliment, but the same thing happened with his dad so I figured it was just because she respected them. Look can we please stop talking about this?" Sokka grimaced a little; he didn't like talking about his little sister like this.

"Yeah, yeah sure. It'd just be nice if I knew half the people you did so we wouldn't have to bother with the catch up game all the time." Toph sent an absent minded strut of metal down from the ceiling to crush a group of guards that had come around the corner. They walked past them like they were skirting something unmentionable.

By the time they got outside the generals had come around and were immediately caught up on what was going on. As their pedigree had promised, they immediately took charge and made their way towards the rendezvous point. A huge number of soldiers were all ready waiting for them. Hakoda, Aang, and Katara were also there, waiting for them.

Sokka and Toph ran over, "Some signal, what'd that to the place?" Sokka asked, trying not to laugh.

"That was me. We used a little too much gunpowder and there was a small magazine close to the door." Hakoda answered sheepishly.

"That always was your weakness." Bato joked as he walked out of the crowd.

"Hey, the palace is cleared then?" Hakoda asked as he threw his old friend into a hug.

"Yes, but we couldn't find Long-Feng. There was plenty of Dai-Lee though." Bato said sombrely, he knew that not finding Long-Feng was a major problem.

Sokka shrugged his shoulders like it was nothing, "It's not a problem, we got him in the jail." He pointed over his shoulder at the trussed bundle of rope and metal behind him that was wriggling around and shouting like a madman.

Moments later the actual battle started as the Fire Nation troops seemed to rally near the newly freed earth army. Before they could join the fight the Council of Five came towards them, "This fight won't last long. They'll be pushed back quickly. You know what this means though don't you? Almost all the Fire Nation troops will be heading back to their country to defend it in once the invasion starts. Despite our size, it'll be hard to make it to the palace before the eclipse ends. What you need to do is get there before most of the troops get back."

Although Sokka liked the idea he was still a little incredulous, "Wait, you want us to steal one of their boats and sneak into the Fire Nation?! Do you have any idea how crazy that is?"

"It's your best chance at getting the avatar close enough to the Fire Lord that he'll be able to use the eclipse. If you go with us there's a chance we won't make it in time. Where is the avatar?"

"Right here sir." Aang tugged the balaclava off his head. He felt like he was a person again and the feeling of anonymity faded from him.

"What do you think? You're the one that has to fight him." Sokka's tone was pleading; he really didn't want to try the plan.

"I say we do it. I don't like the idea of it anymore than Sokka does, but the generals are right. With this many soldiers heading back, there defensive force is going to be almost impossible to get through, and if we send any more people we could attract attention." Aang was upset at himself for thinking so logically, but he had to admit, it was their best chance.

"Okay, we'll make a diversion for you. Use it to get down to the harbour and take a boat. Try to make it look like pirates; we had a little problem with them before the coup."

Sokka gave a loud groan, "Fine, don't listen to the plan guy! Let's try to go faster than the crazy fire people and beat them back to their home. Just don't start crying when we're caught in the middle of the ocean with a gigantic fleet around us!" He threw his arms up in defeat as he headed towards Appa.

"Wait, I'm coming with you." Haru hobbled up to them on a pair of crutches made of rock, "I know a lot about how things work there. Being in a cell around talkative guards wasn't all bad." He managed a weak smile.

"Me too!" Suki dashed up to them, already wearing her warrior outfit again, "The invasion plan was worked on after you left Katara and I don't think I have the time to tell you it right now." Fireballs whizzed over their heads.

Sokka got a huge smile on his face, "Okay, now all we need is a boat!" He strutted off with exaggerated movements. Clearly having Suki calm along had made his night.

The harbour was nearly deserted. There were workers scattered through it, and a few panicky guards running around who had just heard about the freed army. They didn't notice when a group of six kids snuck on board one of the boats and noiselessly lifted up the gangplank and sailed off into the night.

The Fire Nation retreated onto their fleet of boats by midday and put their missing boats down to pirate activity because of the lack of evidence. With Ba-Sing-Se retaken Omashu's resistance, now led by Bumi, set back out towards Omashu. Their numbers had dwindled slightly, but there was still enough to keep the city defended against any attack from any remaining troops that already evacuated.


	9. Broken Pieces

Chapter Nine: Broken Pieces

Luckily the water was calm and the night was overcast. Katara wouldn't need to make any cover if the Fire Nation caught up to them. Sokka had found the control car and figured out the controls with the help of Haru who seemed to know a lot because of the guards around him.

The ship was now on autopilot and the whole ship had a feeling of contentment about it. Suki had started teaching Sokka the style that the Kyoshi warriors used again and he was just happy to be around her. Katara and Aang were out on the deck: training interspersed with reminiscing. The end of their journey was within sight, so they couldn't help but drift into nostalgia. Haru was trying to take care of Appa but was still moving slowly.

Toph was wandering around the ship when she found herself in the hold, which was where Appa was being kept. The top was of course open. Haru was trying to feed Appa at this point but was finding it hard to get the hay into the makeshift trough and remain standing.

He blushed in embarrassment when he noticed Toph staring at his vain efforts, "I'm not normally this useless."

"If Katara's story is half right, then that was already obvious to me. Want some help with fuzzy?"

"Thanks, the help would he appreciated."

"You know you weren't doing to bad a job until the feeding part."

"How long've you been watching me?"

"I've been watching everyone. Sokka needs to get a room. He should be embarrassed it's so obvious. I don't know how Suki puts up with it."

"Even when I first met him, Sokka wasn't the most controlled guy. His emotions are easy to see, uh sense?"

"I stopped taking stuff like that badly a long time ago."

"Okay, and I think Suki appreciates it."

"I really didn't need the whole insight thing, but thanks anyway." Toph had just finished loading the trough.

Eager to keep the conversation going Haru started onto a different subject, "So how did you meet them, you know my story, what's yours?"

"I was in Earth Rumble for a long time, then they showed up and Aang ringed me out with air ending and that was the start of our beautiful friendship. After that they tracked me down again at my home. My parents though I was a defenceless little girl though and wouldn't believe them. Even after we showed them how good I was they still wanted me locked in a room 'for my own protection'." The bitter sentiment was obvious, "After that I got fed up with them, packed whatever I had and left with Aang and everyone."

"You just left? Doesn't that make you feel bad at all? You should have at least left them a letter…but you couldn't have done that could you?"

"Nope, and why should I? They would have had me spend the rest of my life tucked away in some room. Now I'm traveling all over the world and doing whatever I want! Which life would you choose?"

"I agree with what you did, but you probably hurt your parents badly."

"They thought the avatar, _the avatar_, kidnapped me and they sent two earth bending masters to capture me and bring me home. Yeah, lot of sadness there."

"Sorry I asked." The anger that was coming from Toph now made Haru drop the subject before Toph blew a gasket. It was obvious she had quite a few emotions bottled up inside, but he didn't really want to be the one to make them blow.

"So how long have you been a guard?" The question was met with silence. All of Iroh's attempts at talking to his guard had proven futile because the man had stood rigidly in place without batting an eyelid. Iroh didn't know how he hadn't passed out already.

No more than a minute after his last attempt the door to the cell opened and the guard snapped into a fighting stance.

"Leave us." Iroh recognized the voice immediately, but the guard didn't and stayed where he was until the figure lowered his hood and the scar became visible on Zuko's face. The guard bowed and left the room, presumably to get the blood flowing in his body again.

"Would you please talk to me this time?" Zuko's expression was clearly pleading, something that was almost never shown.

"It's about Rayk isn't it?" The fact that Iroh was talking to him again surprised him almost as much as him guessing the reason for his visit. An involuntary smile showed itself because of Iroh's adeptness at reading him.

"I don't want to know how you know that, but yes, it is. He's worse than Azula is and they're both in on something. I don't know what it is, but I can tell. Whenever I see them it's like he's been pleading with her about something and he would never do that from the way he acts normally."

"If they were going to strike at you they would want to make you something useless. What's useless in Azula's mind?"

Zuko gave a snort of disgust, "Pretty much everything. The only people she doesn't seem to hate are dad and Rayk. She might actually like Rayk if dad hadn't made him her fiancée."

"He made Rayk her fiancée? Hahaha, I really wish I could see that, it must be pretty funny. Thos two should drive each other crazy!" Iroh's outburst startled Zuko and aggravated him. He cloaked the little bit of happiness he felt at seeing Iroh laugh again.

"It's not funny Uncle! They both have to go through me!"

Iroh suddenly became serious again, "You're assuming they're going after the throne."

"It doesn't matter what they're going after, I can tell I'm in the way and not knowing how I am is driving me crazy!"

"How would they make you useless?"

"You mean besides kill me?" Zuko became very thoughtful, "They'd need to make it so I'd never be able to recover so it would have to be in the public's eye, but Azula's so socially hopeless that it'd be impossible. They'd try something that would make me do it myself."

"You're getting there."

"If you know what they're doing why can't you just tell me?!"

"Because I'm not always going to be around to help you like this."

When he heard that something clicked in Zuko's head, "They'd make me like you."

"And what's the difference between you and me right now?"

Zuko's anger towards Iroh for getting thrown in jail in the first place chose to surface now, "I remained loyal to my country?"

"That's the reason I didn't want to talk to you in the first place. I was hoping that you'd rethink your decision. Instead, you sided with **Azula**." Iroh's voice had become far more potent, "Think about what that means Zuko. You joined her ranks the second you chose to fight the avatar. You got everything you wanted at the price of becoming more like her!"

Zuko's first epiphany was followed by a second, "They'd kill Mai to make me like you."

Iroh gave a sad smile to show that his rant hadn't been pointless, but Zuko barely saw it when he ran out of the room. Iroh's smile persisted when the guard came back in, he felt bad doing that.

Zuko didn't even need to round the corner to Mai's house to know he was too late. The sky was tinged orange and he'd seen the pillar of smoke as soon as he'd stepped out of the jail. He'd raced towards her house anyway, pleading with the spirits that he wasn't too late and that he could help somehow.

He rounded the corner and ran up to the military officer standing near the house, "What's going on here?"

"This family has been convicted of treason. We've been ordered to arrest them so they can stand trial." Zuko's rage filled up to its limit when he thought of Azula sitting happily in a room somewhere, gloating over screwing him over for the millionth time in his life. His rage spilled over when he saw Mai led away with the rest of her family, in chains. Azula would answer for this.

Rayk knocked politely on the door and entered when no words of protest were given. Azula was sitting with her back to the door and staring at something on her desk. He walked over to the desk and looked over her shoulder at the piece of paper that had paralyzed her. It was a court summons with Mai and Ty-Lee's names on it.

"I thought you had been lieing up until now. I never thought dad would do something like this…"

"Well don't say I didn't warn you. You know what the next step he's going to take is so you might want to start cooperating with me before it's really too late."

Azula was still in shock and when she finally spoke again Rayk wasn't sure she'd heard him, "You know I used to think that dad sort of idolized me and that I could use him as a cushion to fall back on."

"Okay, so your world got shaken a little bit, are you going to let you reputation fall to bits now?" Rayk was getting a little panicky; he hadn't expected her to come close to falling apart this easily.

"I always thought I'd have those two to fall back on…"

"Okay seriously, I know you can hear me so start acting like you actually are." Rayk bent down and put his hands on her shoulders to get her to focus on him.

It was unfortunately at that exact moment that Zuko came running into the room with a murderous intent. This melted away as it looked like Rayk had been moving in for a kiss. The look of confusion on his face was so overwhelming that it spread to show through his entire body.

Rayk rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh, "Why does karma hate me so much…I don't know what you're thinking right now, but **nothing** is what it looks like now. We got blind sided with this just like you." He held up the court summons, "We were trying to figure out what to do from here."

"You mean Mai wasn't the only one?" Zuko rage diminished a little when he heard that.

"Yeah, daddy dearest over there," Rayk nodded in the direction of the throne room, "got a little jumpy because your sister,"

"I am right here you know", Azula had evidently recovered, but Rayk ignored her, "and decided to get rid of the most likely accomplices."

Zuko rage started to come back, "So this is all your fault!" He made a threatening step towards Azula, though he knew that he still didn't stand a chance against her.

Rayk stepped between them, "Relax, right now we should try to figure out what to do. If your dad's gone this far there's no telling what he'll do next."

"I already know what I'm doing: I'm getting Mai out of jail and getting out of here with her!" Before Rayk could stop him he'd turned and left.

Azula started speaking behind him, "Rayk, I just had an epiphany."

"I suppose you're going enlighten me?"

"The throne is dead. Zuko is going to run away and father doesn't trust me so when he goes too far and there are uprisings in the capital the royal family will fall."

"You have no idea how to fix this, do you?"

"None that we have time for."

"Well, I know one person that we could get advice from."

"Please tell me you don't mean uncle?"

"You remember me saying that I beat him at pai sho? Well that was after a few games."

Zuko's step had acquired an aura of unmovable determination that only came when you're hell bent on doing something. He went to his room and collected what he needed from it: his broad swords, 'peasant clothes' as he called them, a travelling pack, and the clothes he worn when he'd become the 'Blue Spirit'. He put a cloak on before he left and made his way through the city towards the prison. This one was located nearer the hub of the city because it held lower grade criminals.

When he was halfway there a wave of nostalgia hit him and he was drawn to a small stand on the side of the road. The man running had masks lining the cart. Zuko scanned them and picked one out once he was sure the original one wasn't there. His new identity had a red face with curving fangs coming out of the moth into a psychotic grin. The eyes were circles trimmed in white and there was a white crescent moon turned into a 'U' on the fore head.

Mai and Ty-Lee were in cells across the hall from each other near the front of the building because 'they wouldn't be here long' as the guard had put it. As soon as she thought of that she heard thump outside the door. When it opened the guard's body fell into the room with a trail of blood leading from his head to the ground.

Standing over the body was somebody dressed almost all in black but wearing a mask in the shape of a grinning demon. The person darted into the room and the mask stopped directly in front of Mai.

She peered through the eye holes, "Zuko what are you doing here?" She actually sounded shocked and Zuko actually stumbled backwards because of it.

Once he'd recovered he came back over and started to pick the lock, "I'm getting you out of here. My father's gone crazy. He'll be after me, Rayk and Azula next." He was talking fast because an unconscious guard bleeding onto the floor was definitely going to attract some attention.

"So you're coming with us?" Ty-Lee's voice cut through the darkness the place seemed to get a little lighter there was so much joy in it.

"No, you're both getting out of here. I'm staying to try and stop him going after you. Remember the cottage? Go there and wait, I'll come eventually, probably with Azula and Rayk." Zuko had finished with the locks and the doors swung open.

"Go through the window," he pointed towards near the back of the room, "I'll distract,"

"There he is!" A new batch of guard had shown up at the doorway.

"GO!" Zuko yelled as he took out his two broadswords and got ready to fight.

Five minutes later a shadow with a red face crept out of a window in the jail and slipped away into the night.


	10. The Crescent Blades

Chapter Ten: The Crescent Blades

The Fire Navy boat did something that puzzled a few of the people of the harbour for a long time. Instead of stopping for supplies it kept going past the inlet and along the coast of their island nation. The ship was beached a good deal farther up the coast and when the plank came down six people walked off of it. Maybe five and a half, Haru was still hobbling with the aid of the crutches.

The ship had been stripped of anything that could be of use to them and left where it was. The group continued into the woods off the beach and when they were in the security it provided a fire was lit and they dug into the supplies they'd taken from the boat.

All the work of getting everything from the ship had taken a good portion of the day but now that their camp was set up they had some time before the sun went down. Sokka got out the maps of the Fire Nation and Haru started explaining the route they should take to the capitol.

Katara pulled Haru away from the conversation after a while so she could speed up the healing process. Not one to be deterred, Sokka continued trying to get Haru's help with the plan while he was being healed which was difficult as he was laying face down on the ground.

Toph was about to go to sleep when something moved. She sat bolt upright, which made Aang jump, she'd dissolved her earth tent and he'd been leaning against it. "There's a group of people in the forest." She used a loud whisper so that everyone could hear her but hopefully not the group that was wandering towards them. There was a little panic for a second, then Toph submerged most of the camp into the ground.

Sokka lit another fire with a pair of spark rocks a second later so they could see. Like everything else she did, the bending was a little loud and the rest of the group didn't need Toph's special vision to tell that there was a group of at least ten people standing right over them.

"Are they soldiers?" Sokka wasn't just sweating from the heat of the fire he'd lit.

"No, they're normal people." No more than a second later the whole group jumped as one, making Toph's cave collapse when they landed. Toph had them all in a fair sized pit before the ceiling crushed anyone.

"Get 'em!" one of the people yelled. The charge was short lived as Toph sent most of them flying before anyone took another step.

One had seemed to evade the attack though. He was an old man with silvery gray hair and he was holding to curved swords that almost looked like scythes. He stood at ease and appraised each of them with a penetrating glare.

"You're not military, we have no quarrel with you. I apologize for the mistake." He had a harshness that seemed to tumble out with his voice.

"Does being anyone but the military mean you won't try t attack us again?" Sokka asked tentatively and hopefully

"We have no quarrel with anyone except for those legalized bullies." The answer was spat and filled with hatred, "Our town used to be filled with life and prosper, then the navy started coming to our town and they took whatever they pleased and drafted our children into the war. The military's run by immoral power grabbers at the expense of anyone that's has enough of a conscious to stand in their way."

"You learned that through experience, didn't you?" Aang had stepped forward and had blocked Sokka trying to cover up his arrow.

"Most of it, some from my master. We'll give you a place to stay until you move on avatar."

Sokka was naturally suspicious and voiced it, "How do we know we can trust you people?" He started to point towards the man with the swords, "I know I can trust you, you can't fake hatred like that. But the rest of you might not have as much against them as he does!"

"You'd better keep an eye on us so we don't try anything then, let's go." The man with the swords didn't wait for a response. Instead he walked up to the back wall of the pit they were in, stuck his sword into it and used it to swing out. He had apparently had a string attached to the hilt because he flicked his wrist and the sword jumped out of the wall and back to his hand.

Toph made a flight of stairs out a moment later and their attackers filed out followed by Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Suki. Toph came up a moment later on a separate platform with Haru who struggled to catch up with them.

Sokka looked towards the head of the group and his eyes almost popped out of his head. The old man had both swords whipping around him without even touching them. He was cutting a path through the foliage for them and doing so without losing control once and never coming close to anyone despite being followed closely. Sokka slowly made his made his way to the front of the walk during the course of the trip back to the town.

When they came through the last of the forest Sokka drew level the man and asked as casually as he could, "So, uh, who exactly does this master of yours teach?" The man gave him an appraising look and pointed down the street at a small house surrounded by a garden.

There weren't any actual inns in the town to deter anyone from the navy from staying any longer than they absolutely had to. All the homes had plenty of extra room though and soon enough an entire house was vacated for the night for the gaang to sleep in, most of them anyways. Aang had stayed up at the request of the council that was in charge.

They were sitting comfortably in someone's house when the discussion began, "We assume that your presence here means that you'll be taking advantage of the Day of Black Sun." One of the council spoken casually but the comment scared Aang half to death.

"How do you know about that!?"

"Kenji Zuwo, The Master of the Crescent Blades is a very well connected man and he tells us things from time to time."

"Are you talking about the guy with the garden house?"

"Yes we are and you'd do well to treat him with dignity. He is a great man that is revered throughout this province." It was clear there was still a little bad sentiment towards Aang for being the avatar. He'd been prepared for a lot worse though.

"Which of his connections told him that?" Aang was really hoping that Azula wasn't the connection, but who else was here and knew about that?

"Rest assured it's no one from the royal family if that's what you're worried about. We don't bother asking him anymore. He never gives a straight answer and we've come to the conclusion that we probably don't want to know anyways."

"You think he's a criminal?"

"No, though with the information he gets it makes one think…" The sentence dropped off for Aang to fill in the implications.

Aang decided to get back on track, "Okay, so you know about the Day of Black Sun. Yes that's why I'm here. Did you just want to make sure of it?"

"Yes, but we thought you'd focus on the Earth Kingdom and only take advantage of the eclipse when there wasn't far less time left."

"We did focus on the Earth Kingdom and were able to infiltrate Omashu, then Ba-Sing-Se and push the Fire Nation out of them."

"If that's the case then we'd like you to help us. By pushing them out of the two biggest strongholds they will have no choice but return home to regroup. They'll come here for a stop and we'll be left with nothing like we have so many times before!" The councilman had started calmly but anger had filled his voice by the end of his sentence.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry, I didn't think it would be like this." Aang had his natural response when he realized he realized the mess he'd made. It didn't even cross his mind that there was no way for him to have seen this coming.

There was a knock at the door and it opened a moment later. A man that looked to be in his seventies entered slowly. He had long snow-white hair and stood only slightly taller than Aang. His eyes were sharp and Aang felt slightly nervous when the old man's gaze fell on him. The man was probably Kenji because he had the crescent shaped swords strapped to his waist. The council bowed when they saw him and Aang mimicked them.

Kenji was given the minutes and he turned to Aang as soon as heard them, "I will teach your friend in compensation for your help in pressing the navy back. As soon as the threat is passed you must hurry. Time is of the essence for you to succeed."

"Why is that Master?"

Kenji gave a soft chuckle, "The world must be one for the oppressor's to be defeated, and I'm not your master so just call me Kenji, okay? Everyone who knows me does anyways." The statement unnerved Aang. The first half had been serious then had abruptly gotten lighter.

"Isn't the whole point of defeating the Fire Lord to make the world one again?"

"You'll understand soon. Tell your friend he starts tomorrow morning and to bring any weapons he has. I want to see what he can do before we begin."

"Thank you Kenji I will." Aang looked around for dismissal, received it, and left the house.

He hurried back to their house and woke Sokka up as quietly as he could, "Psst…Sokka. Wake up."

"Uuhhh…what do you want?" He sounded as energized as a two-toed iguana-sloth

"You're training starts tomorrow morning. Bring your weapons and your Master's name is Kenji Zuwo." Sokka's eyes shot open and he let an excited yell. He was clubbed in the head a second later by Toph who'd thrown one of Haru's crutches at him.

"Go to sleep or else you'll share those with Haru!" Immediately afterwards she fell back asleep. Amid the other muffled groans Aang climbed into the available bed and slipped off to sleep. Sokka on the other hand took longer as his excitement was more potent than coffee.

Kenji sat in the middle of his garden and let the moon's light wash over him. He finished the letter he was writing and slipped it onto the leg of his messenger hawk. It flew off and he sat where he was, contented to play with his favourite pai sho tile: the White Lotus.


	11. The Four Moons

Chapter Eleven: The Four Moons

Normally it took Toph's bending to wake Sokka up in the mornings and then he only stopped grumbling once the morning was over. Today was out of the norm and Sokka had slept lightly the whole night, waiting in his sleep for dawn to creep out and tell him he could start his new training. He crept out of bed as quietly as he could, got dressed, collected his weapons and tried to leave quietly and failed as the floorboards creaked. He eventually gave up and just walked out.

It was barely dawn so there was very little light. There was dew throughout Kenji's garden, which caught the light and made the whole garden seem like it was made of crystal. Kenji was sitting under a little tree, waiting for him.

Kenji spoke in normal voice, "I assume you're Sokka." The voice sounded younger than the body.

"Yes master, thank you for teaching me."

"Don't thank me until I've actually done something for you. Now, what has your training been like? I need to know where you need to improve."

"I've trained in the North and South Poles and I'm still learning the style of the Kyoshi Warriors."

"And practical experience, battles I mean, not one on one."

A little of Sokka's pride forced itself through, "Well, I've been travelling with the avatar so I've had plenty of practice. I was in the coup in Ba-Sing-Se, it's recapture, the liberation of Omashu, and I've also fought in the small invasion of Kyoshi Island,"

"You haven't mentioned the Siege of the North yet."

Sokka forgot that it was morning and yelled, "How do you know that?"

"Keep your voice down, people are still sleeping. I'm very well connected. True I didn't know about it until probably a week or two after it was over, but I did hear things."

"I didn't really fight in that battle. I had a mission away from it, but I failed." Sokka's eyes became downcast. The memory still stung badly.

Kenji's eyes opened in shock, "You knew Yue?"

Sokka's eyes sprang open just as fast but he managed not to yell, "Seriously, how do you know all this stuff? There is no way you could know about that!"

"You'll find out in a little bit. Now we can begin, take these." Kenji held out a pair of puppets.

Sokka got a curious look on his face but took them and held them, not really knowing what to do with them.

"Attach the strings from their limbs to your fingers. Arms on the middle two, legs on the outer two. Once Sokka had attached both puppets to his hands Kenji took out another and did the same to his own hand. He also produced a fold out table.

"All right, try making them walk."

Sokka figured what the puppets were for then. They were for controlling the swords. If you could control the puppets than you could change the path or the way in the swords moved. Sokka tried to get the puppets to walk with gusto once he realized what they were for. The puppet's walk was like a drunken retard.

"Could I just use one to begin with?" Normally Sokka could multi-task fairly well, but this was difficult and doing two at the same time was practically impossible.

"No, the movement patterns for the crescent blades are symmetrical. If one hand is more dominate over the other you will lose control of you swords. Keep going, you'll get it, everyone starts out like that." Kenji proceeded to make his puppet sit down cross-legged and turned the head with its hands so it watched Sokka's pair. Kenji had been right, by noon Sokka had become far more adept at manipulating the puppets. Their gross motor skills had become easy enough, but the finer motor skills still proved difficult.

"Okay, time for a test." Kenji made his puppet stand up and extended its arms, "A puppet fight. Let's see how proficient you really are."

Sokka stared blankly for a second then tried to make his puppets mimic the stance he used when he trained with Suki. When Kenji said to start Sokka had both puppets move forward to try and grab Kenji's arms. Kenji let his puppet drop and pushed the two of Sokka's away.

Seeing that two at the same time didn't work Sokka tried to make one do a low sweeping kick. Kenji made his puppet jump over it and Sokka tried a diving tackle with his other puppet when it was still in the air. Kenji kicked it away and hit the other in the head once he landed.

Kenji was clearly enjoying himself as he had a big smile on his face, Sokka didn't. He was getting more and more frustrated as nothing he tried worked at all. Then for the first time in the match Kenji threw a punch. Sokka bent one of his fingers as far back as it could go and managed to avoid the little wooden fist, then had to dodge another attack immediately after as the other puppet was attacked.

Kenji was slowly herding the two puppets closer together until he was attacking them both at the same time. Within a minute of this Sokka's fingers were flying in every direction as he worked frantically to avoid and block all the attacks. Then something clicked in his head. He started to see the little wooden fighting each other in a new way, almost like he had two minds. He could manipulate both without thinking about it and do so seamlessly. With this in mind a new plan came into his head. He flicked one of his wrists making one of the puppets jump into the air as he sent the other to try and attack Kenji. The attack was avoided and as Sokka's puppet missed he made it push the other into the air. The result was it becoming tangled in Kenji's strings.

Right when Sokka started to attack with the other Kenji stopped him, "Okay, we can start now."

"I just got how to do this though; don't I need to master it?"

"No, your mind leapt and you got what you needed. When the mind gets pushed and has to work faster and faster it eventually gets an epiphany and some new talent is discovered in most cases. Your mind started to see the puppets' movements as your hand movements making it very simple to control them. You're also slightly ambidextrous so that will speed you along slightly."

"Sorry, what was the last part?"

"It means that you are equally skilled with both your sides. You aren't left or right handed. Now then I have some theory behind the sword work before we start and you have a choice to make. There are four different styles to practice in this art. There is the New Moon, Full Moon, Blue Moon, and Harvest Moon.

"The New Moon is strictly offensive and focuses on your attack speed. Once you've mastered it the swords will travel so quickly it is difficult to see them, hence the name. The Full Moon is the most defensive. You keep your blade perpendicular to your opponents while moving it so there attacks can be deflected easily. The Blue Moon focuses on control of the swords. Where the other styles only two or three strings a hand, the Blue Moon uses five a hand, which allows for excellent sword control if it is mastered. If you haven't mastered it the strings end up getting tangled or cut and you lose control.

"Finally the Harvest Moon involves using one hand for defence and the other for offence. You use your defensive hand to block and create an opening and the offensive one for a vertical or horizontal circle to go for their arm. This is the style that makes it obvious why crescent blades are used. Normal blades strike in a short arc or a direct line. The Crescent Blades always use circles so the blades need to be curved so they come into contact with your opponents weapon or the opponent at the same time. Now…I'll have to get your answer later, it looks like we have company." Kenji was looking past Sokka's shoulder at his other student who was hurrying towards them.

"The navy's been sighted; they'll be here before nightfall."

"All right then go tell the avatar and his friends. Let's hope they get the message this time." Kenji stood up with a grim expression on his face and headed towards the harbour.

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The gangplank on the front running ship came down with a clang and a robust man walked down with a company of soldiers behind him. At the bottom of the gangplank Kenji, Sokka and the rest of the gaang stood waiting. The gaang had been given new clothes so that they wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb. It worked as the man's eyes passed over them just as they did Kenji: with little real interest.

He reached the bottom and started to speak, "We've run into some problems in the Earth Kingdom colonies and came home to regroup. We would appreciate any supplies that we need being brought to our ships as quickly as possible."

Kenji's voice was harder than stone when he answered, "That is unfortunate as we've just got out stores back to their minimums from you last visit."

"Well then you'll certainly be busy refilling them won't you?" The man seemed oblivious to Kenji's tone.

"You don't seem to realize that there is none to spare." Kenji enunciated each syllable.

"Your duty is to your country and a little hardship is nothing compared to the soldiers laying down their lives on the front lines."

"Assuming what they're dying for is justified and that there is no other option."

"You doubt that more of us are sacrificed than are necessary?"

"I believe Prince Zuko said something those lines as well a few year ago and he's grown into a stronger person for it." Katara glared at the back of Kenji's head.

"And he wound up in exile with a scarred face." The admiral's voice was threatening.

Seeing his strategy wasn't working Kenji tried a different tact, "Admiral Qin-Xing, your most common strategy is to bait the enemy with fresh soldiers then move in with a pincer tactic when they are so absorbed with beating your bait they don't notice you. Yes I believe numerous lives could be saved."

"You know a lot about military tactics…but you couldn't have been in the military unless you were a deserter…" The implications were left hanging.

"I was the munitions master for the main fleet but I learned that from my son!" Even before he was done speaking Kenji struck. The blades left his sides in a flash and the admiral was on his knees from the blow Kenji had landed on his helmet.

The rest of the gaang attacked as soon as Kenji moved. Toph sent the rest of the soldiers around Qin-Xing back into the boat with a rock pillar while Aang and Katara froze any of the soldiers that came off the other two docked boats. Sokka and Suki were dispatching any soldiers that had managed to get off the boats before Aang and Katara had started. The admiral stumbled back onto his boat when his head had stopped ringing and the boat moved away from the dock.

He appeared on the deck moments later, "You've allied yourself with the enemy but I am kind. We'll come again at dawn tomorrow. Give the supplies we want and the traitors and benders and we'll spare you pathetic village from being burned to the ground! This is my ultimatum. Denying me is pointless!"

"Shut it big mouth!" Toph yelled as she launched a stone at the sound of his voice. She heard a satisfying clang a second later followed by a 'thunk' of his body hitting the deck.

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The gaang and the town council were sitting in the house from the night before, this time with Kenji present from the beginning.

Katara was the first to speak, "What are you going to do once they tell the Fire Lord? He'll send troops to get rid of all of you."

"You mean if we survive tomorrow?" Kenji let out a dry laugh.

"Pphfff, those guys are bigger pushovers than Twinkletoes is." Toph waved a hand through the air to emphasize her point.

One of the council spoke up after that, "We may be the hardest hit but we aren't the only ones. I'd say a good three quarters of this province is ready to break off from the Fire Nation. If they send troops they'll need to cross water and another town will block them there. If we can survive this we won't have any other problems."

Aang heart jumped, "That's great! You can help when the invasion comes on the Day of Black Sun!"

"No we probably won't actually. Most of the cities around here just want to protect their home and getting rid of the capital isn't needed to do that in their eyes. You won't get much support that way. I'd still go with your first plan."

"All right, with that out of the way, I got a plan that's fool proof." Sokka laid a hastily drawn sketch of the town and started explaining his plan to everyone else. After a few minutes of explaining what each of the scribbles was supposed to be Sokka started to explain his plan.


	12. Red Moon

Chapter Twelve: The Red Moon

Sokka was up before dawn the next morning to see if he could get an introduction to the Crescent Blades before they had to confront Qin-Xing. He snuck out of the house much quieter than he had the previous morning, but unlike before Kenji wasn't sitting in his garden. Sokka tiptoed through the garden looking for him. There was such absolute silence that it felt like he was disturbing something sacred. He found Kenji around the other side of his small house with numerous things laid out on a cloth.

Most of it was pieces of armour but there were a few other things as well. There was a short sword, some paint, and a small picture in an ornamental frame.

Sokka heard Kenji muttering beneath his breath before he came to close to him, "Please allow me this one act foolishness so that my slate is clean to nurture the..." A second later he noticed Sokka standing there, "It's traditional armour for the style. The sword is in case someone gets inside your sphere of protection."

Sokka nodded his understanding before continuing, "The pictures your son isn't it?" He hadn't had a clear view of the picture yet.

Kenji picked up the picture and held out it out to Sokka. The picture wasn't just one person. A much younger Kenji stood in the background surrounded by two boys and a girl that were all smiling with him.

"I lost them all to a war I don't believe in anymore. They were dragged into something they didn't want because of me and until I've made up for what I've done I won't forgive myself. Sorry for an old man's sentimentality." Kenji wiped a tear out of his eye before taking the picture back. He cleared his throat before continuing, "Back to the present: what style would you like to pursue?"

"If I could, I'd like to try the Blue Moon and the Full Moon."

"Let me guess: because you want flexibility in who the swords protect and you want to be able to be adaptive to any kind of attack so you won't lose anyone else, correct?"

"Yeah, I've been able to help too few people that were close to me." Sokka thought for a moment then saw what he considered some disrespect, "Not that what you've lost is any worse."

"One is too many. I will think over your answer while we're getting through this conflict. Taking on two at the same time is extremely difficult, but I see where you're coming from. In the mean time, let's start with the basics." He handed Sokka two of the crescent blades made of wood for practice and some steel string.

"Why steel string? Wouldn't it cut off circulation?"

"Normally you build up calluses after a while, and you're in the Fire Nation! Do you have any idea how long actual string would last in a fight here? It'd be burned through in a second. But I suppose you're right. For training we could use normal string." He held out his hand and Sokka exchanged the string for some of the less painful variety.

"Okay, do the same thing you did with the puppets. Two strings on the cross guard and one on the pommel. Now try keeping the swords steady and in constant circles." Sokka tried and succeeded without any problem.

"Okay now try them both at different speeds." Sokka started off well, but soon they were both rotating at the same speed. He stopped and tried again and eventually the same thing happened. He started to get frustrated and it started happening faster.

Finally Kenji intervened, "Calm down, and stayed focused. Only your hands became ambidextrous. This is far more difficult than it looks and once you get it everything will come far easier." Kenji waited until Sokka nodded his understanding, then stood up and started to put all the armour on. He checked on Sokka once it was all on as well as small amount of paint he used as well. Sokka was doing a little bit better, lasting nearly a minute before the speeds evened out.

"It's nearly time so stop for now. Everyone will need your guidance if we're going to pull this off." Sokka reluctantly gave up the wooden blades and left with Kenji to get the first part of his plan together.

There was what some might call a mob in the center of the town. It was apparent that they were fired up to finally strike back at their oppressors. Once they saw Sokka and Kenji approaching the quieted down and some even made an attempt to form a line to receive their orders.

Sokka obliged them; "Okay we've put some slow fuses in the containers that are supposed to have supplies in them. We've also filled the whole bottom with dust. When they detonate it'll create a smoke screen. Me, Kenji and the rest of us," he motioned to the rest of his group around him, "will sneak onto the ships and disable the rudder and hopefully the engines. This'll stop any more of the boats from coming in so they won't have any more reinforcements. They won't have any choice but to leave or else risk starvation.

The ones he wants are us so we'll have to be gagged and tied up with the supplies. Well, we won't actually be tied up or else we can't disable the ships, but we can use rock cuffs covered in cloth. Toph will release us when the barrels detonate and then we go to work.

There probably will be some soldiers off the boats when all this happens so you will need to fight. Use the confusion to your advantage and try to beat most of them while the smoke screen is still up. Use the time we have left to get yourselves ready however you can."

Many people were ready as they thought they could be with many carrying the sharpest things they had. For many that was a hoe or a scythe. Now they realized they couldn't be seen with these right away and immediately went to go hide them somewhere that they could be used later. A few other people simply stuffed them into their pockets.

Just as Qin-Xing had said, his ships were spotted at dawn and were once again at the port. As he came down the gangplank with his regular flotilla of men a smile crept across his face. There was a large cluster of barrels at the harbour as well as the group of miscreants he had demanded the day before. A few of them were even gagged!

"I see you've chosen correctly. You still have your country's honour at heart. Men, load the supplies and prisoners so we can be away from this _misguided _village." With that he began to walk towards the town's people. He was blown off his feet a moment later because the barrels had detonated. The next thing he felt was someone's fist getting jammed into his face as he tried to get up.

So far the plan was going according to schedule. The barrels had detonated, the townspeople were already fighting, and the boarding party was already freed and moving into action. Katara and Aang shot off by themselves to take care of the rudders since they were still out over the water. The rest of the group was still trying to head on to the ships to disable the engines.

Getting to the engines was proving to be more difficult than Sokka had originally thought though as there was a constant stream of soldiers coming out of the ships. Though this wasn't a problem in itself, it did obstruct their passage onto the ships.

After Sokka lost count of the number of soldiers he'd clubbed over the helmet he yelled over to Toph, "Toph, get us on the deck! This is taking too long!" She nodded and a few seconds later Sokka and the others were hurled unceremoniously through the air to land moments later on the ship's deck they were closest to. Sokka looked around quickly to see where the others were and saw that Suki was with Haru on the ship to his left and Kenji was alone on the one to his right. Toph landed beside him a moment later.

"Mind if we get going? I don't think they're going to like what we're doing." Toph didn't wait for him to answer as she ripped a hole in the floor and jumped down into the ships exterior.

Once they were inside Sokka followed behind Toph towards the engine room. On the way they heard Aang or Katara, he couldn't tell which hammering away at the rudders. A minute or so later they were in the engine and were faced with the dilemma on how to destroy it.

"I'll just use some rocks and were done." was Toph's first idea, seemingly unaware of being surrounded by metal.

She had a hole in the ceiling before Sokka interjected, "No, there's much more sophisticated way to do this." He promptly set about pushing every button on the engines control panel finishing with a big fat red one. A moment later Toph was forced to act. She ripped a sheet of metal from the floor and pushed Sokka onto it. Seconds later the console detonated and they were propelled through the hole she'd made earlier.

They landed on the shore and skidded a good ways before coming to a stop. The metal was now extremely hot and there was a hole in the middle of it from the slide that had been their landing.

Sokka stumbled off of it, his teeth rattling, "Never push a red button!"

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." Toph added sarcastically

"Do you really feel the need to do that every time?"

"It's not my fault you make it so easy." Sokka didn't wait to see if Toph had another sarcastic remark and started in the direction of the harbour.

The harbour was still in complete chaos because of the constant flow of men coming from the ships. Thankfully Aang and Katara had destroyed the rudders and had started to try and freeze the opening closed with a wall of ice. These never lasted long as they were burned through, but it was slowing the soldiers considerably.

Qin-Xing was on the far right of the harbour at this point with a group of his men rallying around him and managing to keep the villagers away from them. Kenji was there but couldn't exactly get close because of all the fire that was issuing from the group. Kenji was slowly getting closer though, blowing the flames away with swords.

"Toph, I think Kenji could use a hand." Sokka was having a hard time dragging his eyes away from his teacher, the blades were hypnotizing. Toph barely broke stride as she launched Qin-Xing's contingent of soldiers skyward and into the water. The villagers that had been around Kenji left to go back to the main fight since their target was now decimated. Some figured that Kenji wanted the last one to himself.

Qin-Xing thought that as well and after a brief stare down started his attacks on Kenji. Kenji continued to blow the flames away and practically ran at his target as he was doing it. Qin-Xing started to move backwards and pumped out blasts even faster.

By the time Kenji was close enough to attack his swords had been reduced to balls of metal slag on wires. He barely noticed as he made one come rocketing down from above. Qin-Xing simply sidestepped and hit the metal with the palm of his hand and it completely melted into a puddle on the ground. The other hunk of metal came around at the same time and clubbed Qin-Xing in the side. Kenji never gave him a chance to fall over as he yanked the cord towards him and drew the short sword at his waist at the same time.

He lunged at Qin-Xing a moment later but Qin-Xing spun around and kicked his legs out from underneath him. Kenji managed to get his hands underneath him as he fell and rolled away, letting the wires fall from one of his hands. He got up, panting slightly, and faced Qin-Xing who had just ripped the piece of metal off his armour.

Qin-Xing started laughing; "Now how do you expect to beat me? You only have your pathetic little sword left and I barely have a scratch on me! You were a fool to think you could take me on!"

Kenji let a smile play across his face, "No, you fail to see what's right in front of you!" He flicked his still wired hand forward and sent a bunch of small chunks of metal flying towards a surprised Xing. They wound around him and his entire body was immobile a few seconds later.

When Kenji approached Qin-Xing though a huge gout of flame left Qin-Xing's mouth that launched Kenji off his feet and sent him crashing to the ground. Seconds later Qin-Xing let the wires fall away from him and was walking confidently towards Kenji's groaning form.

"This is what you get for defying the military! You and your town get a pointless end!" Qin-Xing raised his hand and Kenji watched unable to do anything as the fire flared into existence, then something caught his eye in the sky. The boomerang flew down and crashed into Qin-Xing's helmet before leaping back to Sokka's hand.

Qin-Xing stood up again and looked around furiously until his gaze fell on Sokka, "Well what do we have here? A wimpy student of Kenji? What's the matter is that the only trick you know?" His indignation was very prominent now.

"Yeah, oh, there's this too." Sokka gave a little grin as he raised his other hand and the small bits of metal from Kenji's wire shot back towards Sokka and wrapped around Qin-Xing for the second time. A moment later the boomerang had left Sokka's hand and had knocked Qin-Xing out when it made contact with his head.

Sokka immediately ran over to Kenji who was struggling to get up, "Stay down. I'll go get my sister and she'll heal you." Kenji didn't listen though and continued to try and rise. Sokka decided if he was bent on standing he could at least help him do it. He lifted him up and he noticed Kenji had his sword pulled back like he was trying to attack something. A second later the sword screamed forward and Sokka was sure Kenji had flipped. He heard a faint gurgle behind him and turned around to see the sword stuck between Qin-Xing's ribs. Qin-Xing stumbled back for a second, let out a louder gurgle then fell over.

Sokka looked away from the pool that was forming beneath Xing and the sword that was now sticking out through the back as well. He adjusted his grip on Kenji and he started to help him hobble back to the relative safety of the village. The rest of the fighting only lasted another hour before the soldiers were beaten so badly that they were ditching there armour and swimming back to the rest of the fleet who was already starting to leave.

Kenji had borrowed one of Haru's crutches since Haru didn't really need them too much anymore. He was sitting on his little house's porch and digging through a little cabinet that had been brought out for him. Sokka was sitting near him and waiting patiently for him to get whatever it was he was looking for. Finally he did and he brought out a collection of scrolls and handed them to Sokka. Sokka opened up one of them and saw they were instruction on the crescent blades.

"I guess this means you won't be teaching me anymore." Sokka couldn't help but sound a little gloomy.

"Yes, you're running out of time. My master wrote those and I've added in my notes where I thought they were needed. Study them and practice and you should do fine. If you get through this crisis come back and I'll finish your instruction."

"Thank you master, I won't forget."

"I hardly think you should be calling me master after you had to save me in that fight." Sokka was practically glowing, "Now get your friends and go, we can handle everything from here on out."

Just as Sokka had been instructed he gave the gaang Kenji's message and they gathered up their meagre belongings and set off with Aang flying beside Appa and Toph ploughing along underneath since there was no way Appa could carry their swollen ranks for an extended amount of time.

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Kenji watched them until he lost before he sent off his hawk to tell the Initiator who was inducted and where he could find the mark. His part was done. Now he could relax for a little at least before he was called in for the final measures to laid down.


	13. Severance

Chapter Thirteen: Severance

The night had a new moon so the darkness was almost absolute as Mai and Ty-Lee wound their way along the dirt path that brought them close to Iroh's old cottage. Both of them were apprehensive, although Mai didn't show it much. Ty-Lee twisted around and squeaked at the smallest of noises. Mai was constantly reminding her to stay quiet for that reason.

When they could start to hear the ocean they followed the sound until they reached the shore. From there they continued along the shore, just above where the sand started. Neither of them wanted sand in their shoes if they were going to have to run again. Eventually they hit the path that led from the beach up to the cottage and started up it.

"I don't know if this is a good idea Mai; dusty old houses out in the middle of nowhere, seriously not good for your aura."

Mai emphasized her bored voice to help her point, "If you're scared to go inside just say so. I'm going in because it's going to be easier to hide from any kind of search party in there than out in an open field."

Ty-Lee gave a little pout, but in the end followed Mai slightly dejectedly. Once they were inside Mai closed all the curtains as tight as she could and stuck a knife in each pair of curtains to keep them shut. Once that was done she risked lighting a few candles so they could actually see.

She couldn't figure out if it was just the candle light or not, but the place seemed even dustier than when they had come here the first time. She didn't really care though. She moved into the kitchen and started to pick through everything, looking for anything that might still pass for edible.

Ty-Lee came in and Mai didn't even wait to hear her question, "I'm looking for food so that if we have to leave again we won't starve." Ty-Lee formed an 'oh' with her mouth to show her understanding. She was apparently still apprehensive about making any sound. That was just as well because they started to see a dim light through the window.

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Zuko slipped back into the palace, now on alert and ready to attack anybody that came close to him. He would glance down each hallway he went down and then extinguish the lights to keep roving eyes off of him. He eventually reached his first destination: Azula's room. He stopped outside the door, hand on the doorknob. Why he was going to bring her with him? Hadn't she needlessly tormented him every chance she'd had in the past, and he still wasn't sure that she and Rayk didn't have something to do with all of this. She had a bigger target on her back then Mai or Ty-Lee did though, so if they were caught she'd have top priority, which could give the rest of them longer to get away.

He shuddered at his own thought, Iroh had been right; he had become more like her. His put his lasts thoughts out of his mind and knocked anyway; they could use her brain to stay hidden from their father at any rate. When he knocked on the door it swung open easily and saw evidence of some hasty packing. Rayk was obviously behind this because he couldn't think of a time when Azula had rushed to do anything. She might do something quickly, but she never rushed.

He cursed under his breath and went to his second stop, his father's room. He tugged on the door and found it wouldn't move. He pulled the cloak he was wearing tighter around himself so his father couldn't see the clothe she was wearing then knocked on the door.

He heard his father's voice from the other side, "Who's there?"

Zuko couldn't help but hear a slight quiver in the voice, but he ignored it, "Your son."

"Are you alone?" Now he'd definitely heard a voice tinged with fear.

"Yes I am. I need to talk with you."

He heard a lot of locks being undone and deadbolts sliding, then the door creaked open slightly and an eye peered through. The door opened fully once it saw there wasn't anything there.

His father ushered him into the room and promptly started to do up all the locks up again. It made Zuko nervous. What he actually wanted to talk about meant he might need a fast exit. While his father's back was turned he glanced around and saw some wooden bars covering a window. He could cut those easily enough with his broadswords.

He turned around and began once his father was done with the locks, "Father, you might be acting a little too fast. Mai wouldn't raise a hand against you because that's against me as well."

"You may be right but you can't be too careful these days. Everyone is trying to get you."

"_Oh, how the might have fallen_" Zuko thought, "But why go after the accomplices? It'd be faster with the kind of power you have to just take out the main threat."

"I envy your ignorance, it lets you rest easy. No, people seek to undermine my power. Without my power I'm unprotected. Already I can see them trying, but they won't. I'll get them before they can. You can't trust anyone Zuko, never forget that."

"No, I'd trust Mai with my life." Zuko let a little flair stubbornness creep in.

"No, Mai in herself isn't the biggest problem. People can control others and hide it. I can't even trust you; you could be being used by Azula to get close to me!" He said it like it was an epiphany and his eye got a little wider.

Zuko decided it was time to go and practically threw the broadswords out of their sheath at the window. They cut cleanly through the wood and he dived through the window after them. It was unfortunate that his father's bedroom was on a high floor of the palace. Zuko plummeted down and felt the heat from a fire blast exit the window behind him. He still had some time before the ground rushed up to meet him. He slid the broadswords back into the sheath and grabbed a flagpole that attempted to whiz past him. It bent quite a bit but stayed in the wall. He slid his mask over his face and dropped the rest of the way, his legs giving a mild protest when he hit the ground.

He made a mad dash across the garden he'd landed in, swung off a tree branch, and over the low wall. He wasn't particularly worried about his father alerting anyone because it would take him quite a while to undo all the locks and deadbolts. What he was more concerned about was that someone might have seen the blast out of the window. He skidded to a stop on the other side of the wall. His nose was immediately assailed by the smell of the stables. He glanced quickly and darted inside. There was a single komodo rhino left. He was on it, out of the stables, and charging the streets of the capital on his way back to Mai in moments.

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Rayk was an efficient packer; Azula had to give him that. He'd thrown clothes into a duffel bag when they gone to his room and now was rifling very quickly through a big crate that he'd pulled from underneath his bed. She hadn't seen what he was pulling out of it and she was mildly curious so she walked over and peered over his shoulder.

He didn't look up at her, he just kept working, "You have your bending, I'm going to need some of this stuff to be useful." The crate was filled with every kind of weapon you could imagine. Knives, swords, staves, launchers, slings, halberds, razor disks, you name it, it was there. He finished up a few seconds later, and stood up with a small pile in his arms.

Next he started to put it all together. He had a knife launcher like Mai's and he slid that on his left arm. Next he held up some sort of gauntlet. It was a metal glove that had rings on each of the fingers and a large bulge that overshadowed some of the hand and a part of the forearm on top. Last was a pair of swords that were strapped to his sides.

He added a little bag with extra knives to his belt then turned and grabbed a traveling cloak and his duffel bag and motioned for Azula to follow him. She hesitated and almost reluctantly took off the top piece of armour that she and Zuko were always wearing. She placed it on the bed, grabbed her bag and followed Rayk without a backward glance.

The prison that Iroh was in was placed right at the back of a steep mountain range a fair distance outside the city. There was an occasional escape attempt by someone making a make shift glider then trying to get over the first ridge of mountains by jumping from the top of the prison. They never made it and by the time they were done rolling down the cliff face they were never alive.

It looked like the prison had under gone reconstruction though. There were boulders littering the main path to it and many of the windows were expanded to gaping holes. On the whole, it looked like the place had pissed Hayba off something fierce. Azula heard Rayk mutter something she was willing to bet wouldn't be heard in public and ran after him as he sprinted towards the still imposing but debilitated structure.

The front doors where swinging pathetically from a single hinge and Rayk slowed to a crawl when he entered the place. Chunks of masonry littered the floors and the doors into one wing of the prison had been blown off their hinges and cracked a pair on the opposite side of the room. Rayk immediately went for the door less opening. He picked up the pace as he got farther and farther in. He stopped suddenly at one corner and held out his hand to tell Azula to do the same. She didn't like taking his commands, but he obviously knew what was going here and she didn't like wading into a tricky situation she knew nothing about.

Rayk took a small mirror from somewhere in his cloak and held it cautiously around the corner. He drew it back a moment later and continued around the corner. Azula noted the careful placing of his features he was using. He was trying to show that nothing could unnerve him. She knew it was probably tricky for him since the hallway was lined with the bodies of guards. A few of them groaned when they passed, but couldn't actually do anything to stop them. After going through that hallway Rayk's step had gotten much lighter. He actually seemed happier now. Azula was a little mystified about this since he was being so careful about not showing emotion a minute ago. A few minutes later they reached the end of the trail the carnage had given them. There was a steel cage in the back corner of the room that had had the front part of it ripped off.

Rayk turned to Azula with a grin playing in his face, "I don't think your Uncle is here anymore." The smile shrunk a second later when they heard the clatter of metal coming down the hallway a second later. It also didn't help things that an arrow had just flew through the window and luckily only connected with the hilt of Rayk's sword instead of his body.

They both flung themselves into the window's blind spots and waited for the enemy to reach the doorway. A moment later and the running in the hall had stopped but no one appeared. Rayk had just enough time to figure out what they were doing and shield himself before the wall of room blew up sending big chunks of brick towards them.

Once the immediate danger of flying rock was gone Azula came out of the cell Iroh had been in. There was a large contingent of soldiers there. They were fodder though, so they were the bait. The archer outside, most likely Yu-Yan, would take the opportunity of Rayk or Azula coming out of cover to attack and would take them down. She checked across the room and saw Rayk roll both his sleeves up with a calm demeanour. He pulled a few fingers down and a blade jumped out of the gauntlet he was wearing. It was followed quickly by a metal outcropping that resembled a shield.

Azula didn't bother to tell him what the actual plan that was working against them was here. He'd already figured it probably. He pointed the blade at the nearest soldier and pulled another finger and the blade launched from the sword and imbedded itself in a solider killing him immediately. He was reeled in and Rayk grabbed his shoulders. The rest of the soldiers stood where they were, stunned for a moment by the attack. They started to come out of the daze and Rayk's action seemed to fuel their will to fight. They charged only at Rayk since they were well aware who the girl was in the cell near them.

Rayk swept his other hand in a wide arc and a swarm of knives burst from the launcher which felled a good number of the soldiers. The rest were too close to stop. The body was tossed at them, which knocked the remainder down.

"Get out of here." Rayk commanded in a cold voice. The remaining men scrambled up and fled the room, "Here, take this and see how many archers are out there." Rayk took out his mirror again.

"Don't bother I've got a better idea." Azula waved her hand dismissively and picked up one of the fallen bodies. She tossed it across the area that the window showed and it was immediately hit with a shaft.

"There's only one, leave it to me." Azula backed up a little and shot a powerful blast at the wall. The blast continued and incinerated the arrow that tried to come through. She heard the archer leave his roost a second later to avoid being burned. She jumped to the hole and shot one more little dart. There was a scream a moment later and a dull thud of the body hitting the ground after that. The thuds continued as the archer travelled the rest of the way to the ground.

"You know you didn't have to kill him." Rayk said when she dropped back down into the room.

"And you should have killed those soldiers. Now my father has a lead on us."

"No one's following where we're going." Rayk countered smugly. He walked over to Azula's hole and flicked another finger. A tiny grappling hook shot out below the blade. He started to climb up the face of the prison.


	14. Poky and Pointy

Chapter Fourteen: Poky and Pointy

After the gaang had left Kenji's village they'd been traveling for the rest of the day. They'd made it all the way across to the Fire Nation main land despite having to stop for Toph to get on Appa so they could cross the channels that separated the close islands that made up the Fire Nation. They were currently camped out in some woods near a village where they'd '_acquired_' some new clothes so that they would fit in towns they'd be going through. Katara had been against taking someone else's clothes at first but had eventually been persuaded because of the sheer amount they'd found.

Once Haru had his new clothes he'd grudgingly let them take some of his hair off since it appeared that long hair was a faux-pas in these parts. Afterwards he changed into his new clothes. He'd grabbed a red t-shirt and a really dark red vest that gold lining around the top. He'd also chosen some red pants that opened up a little at the bottom so his feet could move a little without moving the actual leggings. With that he could make little tremors in the ground and other small bending moves without showing what he was doing.

Suki changed once she'd wiped all the makeup from her face. She still had a slight affinity to her warrior's clothes so she chose shirt that was too big for her so it still felt somewhat like what she'd use to wear. Her pants were nondescript so on the whole she now carried a tomboy appearance, which the others didn't mind though it did make them stand out a little. Now that they were done they packed and began moving even farther inland before the sun went down.

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Once Rayk had reached the top of the prison he called down and Azula followed him up, not quite knowing what to expect when she got there. There was nothing though. The top of the prison was completely flat. The only thing that had changed was that Rayk had a messenger hawk perched on his arm.

Once he'd given it some food it flew off with a screech, leaving Rayk reading the note it'd left him. Once he'd finished he rolled it up and went to the edge of the prison and reeled in his grappling hook and shot it at the mountains where it buried itself in the rock face.

Azula had had enough, "Now look, I realize that I'm not a princess anymore, but your lack of respect is pitiful and I've had enough. You **will** tell me where we're going and why or else."

Rayk turned toward her with an almost apologetic face, "You know, you're right. I just got a very tight schedule thrown at me though. I'll tell you a little bit but you'll have to wait 'till we make camp to hear most of it. Whether or not you agree to come with me doesn't really matter. I'm part of a group of conspirators that has the goal of bringing Fire Lord Ozai down. We have some new members that I have to induct except they're far away right now and I have to meet them in a specific area before they pass through it. Now then, ladies first." He bowed low towards the chord that spanned the gap, the very model of chivalry.

Azula gave him a death glare and slid across then scaled the little distance that the shot hadn't covered. Rayk came a moment later and reeled the chord back in then hurried after Azula who'd already started off further from the prison.

"So where is the town that we'll be staying at?" Azula asked with an air of absentmindedness.

"What town? We're not going to be near another town for at least a day or so. Even then, it's not going to be safe to go into any of them. We're sleeping under the stars for awhile!"

"I'm used to sleeping in a bed thanks." Her voice became icier if that was possible.

"So am I and if I had the opportunity to I'd think about it, but as it stands we're too far away from any town to actually have a chance at sleeping in a bed at all tonight so we're both going to have to put up with it for now." Azula took a long deep breath, paused like she was going to say something but didn't and just kept walking the down the mountain's slope.

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Once Ty-Lee saw the light she immediately blew out all the candles they'd lit and Mai sneaked a look through one of the windows. There was a group of five men of komodo rhinos coming towards the cottage with a fox-hound leading them.

Mai's heart dropped, "It's Rough Riders. They tracked us." she whispered to Ty-Lee when she came back in. They both anxiously watched their advance as they came right up to the cottage's back step. They circled the cottage and when the fox-hound didn't make any detours a man in a mask threw grenade through the window. Mai and Ty-Lee dived for cover when it exploded but they were tossed out of the cottage completely by the force of the explosion. They sprawled in a heap in to the field and struggled to stand up. Their ears were ringing and they had blurry vision. Mai's vision cleared just in time to see one of the Rhino's throw a weighted chain at her. She knocked Ty-Lee out of the way and it whizzed over their head. They both stood up with the intention to fight. They didn't have much of a chance though since they were completely surrounded.

The Rhino's slowly encroached on them until another one appeared. Instead of pulling to a stop beside the others the rider jumped off his and clubbed the one to his left with his foot. The newcomer landed beside Mai and she saw who it was. Zuko was wearing his mask again. The Rhino's stared in disbelief for a second, not believing what had just happened. Once they recovered a second later mayhem ensued.

Explosions and arrows started coming from every direction, blasts of fire spat across the area where the fighting was. Zuko was constantly exchanging blasts with the other fire bender while Mai was trying to handle the archer and the explosives specialist. Ty-Lee had already succeeded in taking down the swordsman. Another few seconds and the fight was over with and only Mai and Ty-Lee having sustained any kind of injury because of the grenade in the cottage.

Zuko started talking in a rushed once he'd recovered his breath; "There's more like them on the way here. Get going and I'll lead them away from you. Head southeast to the lower provinces, some of them are opposed to the war. They'll take you in because of that. I'll get there when I can." He motioned for them to go as he started to burn blast marks into the field to make it look like the fight had been bigger.

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Sokka had started to read through the different instructions that Kenji had given him while they were flying on Appa and he thought he was getting most of it. By the time they landed he read through the basics completely two times over and once they'd finished setting up their camp he got out his swords and began to practice. He went through all the basic motions and managed to not hit himself in the process. Because of his success he began to feel more confident.

"Hey Toph, you mind throwing some rocks over here?" He regretted it as soon as he'd said it. She hurled stones from the ground that were the size of his head. This didn't really surprise him though; he'd thought they'd be bigger. He struck out at them and much to his surprise the rock was cut into two. The rest of the barrage met the same fate and once it was gone Sokka let the strings rest at his sides with a silly amusement on his face, apparently awestruck at his own success.

Toph wasn't about to let him have the last laugh though. She sent a tremor through the ground that ended in a pillar shooting out underneath Sokka's foot. Much to her surprise, he rose with it and managed to keep his balance when he jumped off of it. Her self esteem was put at ease though when he stumbled when he landed at smacked into a tree.

"It was a good attempt." Suki had walked back into the camp holding, much to Sokka's delight, a pair of otter-ducks. Sokka immediately forgot about what he had been doing and ran over to help her prepare and roast them, oblivious to the mark the tree had left on his face. Once Aang saw the meat he left the camp, trying not to draw any attention to himself, which failed because Katara followed him.

"Is Sokka's cooking getting so bad you can't even be in the camp anymore?" She asked sarcastically.

Aang didn't show the recognition of the joke, "No, it's not that. My nerves are nearly shot right now. The day of the invasion is coming, I haven't completely mastered earth bending and I haven't even found a fire-bending teacher yet!" He let out a groan and fell to the ground in frustration.

"Aang it's not your fault. You had to do something that no avatar before had ever done. Besides, we have the eclipse so you won't even need to have mastered all the elements, so calm down a little. Everything is going to be fine."

Aang felt himself relax a little. She always seemed to have that effect on him. He jumped back to his feet, "Yeah I guess you're right. Umm, Sokka's not actually cooking though is he?"

"Not if we get there to warn Suki." Katara smirked and they ran back towards the camp to save their meal.

Even though they were in the middle of the forest Sokka insisted on having guard shifts through the night since they _were_ in enemy territory. Toph took first watch and woke Sokka up for the second when she felt like going to bed.

A few minutes or hours later, Sokka couldn't tell, he heard something moving through the underbrush. He moved towards the sound cautiously with his swords out. When he got closer his heart rate sped up when he hear that there were two somethings. He edged closer until he saw some of the underbrush moving. It started to shake more and he considered moving back towards the camp since it was hard to see this far from the fire. A moment later two bodies came out of it.

Sokka froze in abject horror, "Ahh, Poky and Pointy!!" Ty-Lee and Mai stumbled blearily out of the bush. They became relatively more awake when they realized someone was in front of them and that he was shouting. Ty-Lee moved to disable him but Sokka remembered one of their previous encounters. He threw his head forward into her fingers and she hopped back grabbing them. Mai moved her arms up and Sokka immediately brought his swords to bear so he could block the knives.

Although a few were thrown and Sokka was successful at deflecting them away from himself the fight was short live as rock cuffs leapt out of the ground a moment later onto Sokka's assailers. Haru came through the wood followed by Suki, Aang and Katara a moment later.

Sokka panicked for a second, "Where's Toph?"

"Still asleep. We couldn't wake her up." Haru answered with a slightly irritated voice.

Sokka turned to their two prisoners that were trying to get comfortable on the ground despite the cuffs on their feet, "I'm guessing since you're both here Azula's close by too. How is she tracking us?"

"We're not traveling with Princess Azula. Her dad wants us dead." Ty-Lee answered with a somehow happy voice then hopped back on her feet and added, "Hey! You're that cute guy."

Suki gave Sokka an asking glance, "Just don't ask." He answered, shaking his head in exasperation.

"How is Azula tracking you then? Don't say that she wouldn't come after you." Katara had a determined look in her eye that made everyone in the group take a step back from her.

Mai decided to answer, "We think she's following us. Her father wants her dead too, and it's a pretty safe bet they're after Zuko and Rayk as well by now."

"Who's Rayk?" Aang asked nervously. They didn't another crazy fighter like these two after them.

"Azula's rotten fiancée." Ty-Lee pouted in an attempt to show her disgust.

"Okay, well that means he can't be all bad." Sokka joked. Everyone seemed to ignore him.

"What are you planning to do with us anyhow?" Mai asked in a tired voice.

This made everyone pause in thought. A lot of shoulder shrugs were tossed around before she continued, "Well then could you let us go?" she actually had a hint of hope in her voice.

"Why should we let you go? You'd just attack us again!"

"Why would we, we're wanted now too and even if we captured you we'd get locked up anyway."

Sokka opened his mouth like he was going to speak but nothing came out. In the end he motioned for Haru to let them go. He couldn't see any reason not to. Their arguments had made sense and he couldn't think of any way that they could be lying since they were both nearly falling asleep.

As soon as the cuffs were gone Mai and Ty-Lee exchanged quick glances and had disabled all five of them before they knew what was happening. Much to their surprise Mai and Ty-Lee walked past them and back towards the camp.

"We're going to need some of your stuff." Mai called back nonchalantly. Ty-Lee blew a kiss back to Sokka who just grinned. A second later the ground trembled and Toph strolled through the forest.

"Hmm I wonder where the other two of them are." She asked to the air. Sokka and Aang had been pinned to the trees with Mai's knives.

"You know we're up here so quit pretending!" Sokka yelled at her.

"Who said that? Was that you Sokka?" she asked innocently. She knocked the knives out of the tree a moment later and Sokka fell to the ground in a heap. As always Aang landed on both of his feet like he was part cat.

The rest of the group had at least recovered the ability to walk with another five minutes and they went back to their camp where Mai and Ty-Lee were submerged up to their head in the ground. Even when they were submerged everyone could their stomachs growling.

None of them could stand hearing the two stomach's lament so Toph reduced them to cuffs again and they let them have they remains of their dinner. The next day Toph stayed behind and when she almost lost touch with the rest of the group she dissolved the cuffs and submerged herself in the ground and shot off towards the gaang. Toph noticed that they were following them again by lunch and it was decided they would leave a little food behind again for them. They didn't say a word as they continued to walk through the forest.


	15. Teacher?

Chapter Fifteen: Teacher?

Zuko couldn't stay around to see if his handiwork paid off, though he did want to, just to be sure. There were too many risks involved though. He'd finished up his distractions and false leads near Iroh's cottage and was now heading after Mai and Ty-Lee. He would stay to make sure the next search party fell for them, but there could be other groups ahead that they couldn't know about and he did need to meet back up with Mai.

He'd been following the shore, which rose up into a rocky coastline. The land had started to slope in land so he had a good view of the forming valley. He was hoping to use the view to spot Mai and Ty-Lee. After over half a day of straight walking Zuko was getting sore feet. He sat down once he'd reached the edge of the shore that by this time had turned into small mountains that had cliffs on both sides and an almost level path along the length of the range.

He sat down on the edge in a vain attempt to get a view of the two runaways he was trying to catch up to. Instead he saw a much bigger group with a flying bison walk through one of the forest canopy's openings.

"The avatar is in the Fire Nation?" he thought incredulously. He never got a chance to think of anything else as he caught a flicker of movement from the clearing and then the part of the cliff he was sitting collapsed and plummeted toward the ground. He could guess that this was the earth bender that was traveling with the avatar. He didn't know how she'd seen him though.

He jumped off the falling rock before it the ground and managed to grab a tree branch. He slid the mask over his face before he started to move through the tree branches as quickly as possible. No reason to give up his element of surprise. They were below him a minute later and he dropped down silently behind them. The earth bender wheeled around as soon as he'd touched the ground. A rock was headed straight for him a second later, but before he could destroy it Aang had moved and made it disintegrate.

Next a fight almost broke out from the earth bender, "Aang, what're you doing?! He was spying on us!"

"So what if he was? He's not working for the Fire Lord." Aang was strangely calm and Zuko had a horrible feeling he knew why and got ready to fight the water bender.

"How do you know?" Aang continued to scrutinize the mask. It reminded him of someone.

Aang didn't actually answer Toph but addressed the masked person in front of him, "Hello Zuko." As if to confirm Aang's guess Mai and Ty-Lee came through the trees a second later.

"Zuko, you caught up." Mai's voice actually betrayed worry, which surprised everyone. He didn't see any reason to keep the mask on any longer and took it off.

Katara's eyes narrowed to slits, her breathing became deeper and the water was out of her pouch before anyone could blink. Numerous shard of ice were flying at every inch of Zuko's body. Mai had to push him out of the way. He'd been mesmerized by something. She hadn't been angry when she'd attacked him, she'd been crying. Katara kept attacking but quickly wore down to a sobbing lump on the ground.

"I think you need to go now." Sokka's voice was threatening.

Zuko became nervous about what he was going to do. The only chance he, Mai and Ty-Lee had of living a life that was permanently on the run was to help the people he use to call enemies. He knew Aang needed a fire-bending teacher so he was valuable to them. He just hoped it was enough for them not kill him.

Zuko dropped his swords to show surrender, "I know I made some big mistakes, but I want help you."

Sokka took a quick glance at his crying sister, "I don't think you heard me. You need to leave, **now**."

Zuko started to voice a protest but Toph cut him off, "Hey! I don't think you heard Snoozles! Get your butt outa here!"

"Snoozles?" Mai said in a mocking voice.

"What's wrong with that Mai? I think it's cute." Ty-Lee was giving Sokka that disconcerting look again. Aang was kneeling near Katara, trying to comfort her, but he was giving an agonizing look to Zuko's back.

Before he left the clearing Aang couldn't stop himself, "Zuko, wait! Toph did he mean what he said?"

"Twinkle-toes, you're crazier than Sokka is!"

"Just tell me if he actually meant it."

"Yeah he did, but you're not actually going to trust him after what he did to you?"

"We need him whether we like it or not." Aang was only too aware of how much Zuko could be taking these as insults. Despite this Zuko was still standing there with a hopeful look on his face. He even started to come back towards them but Katara's sobbing form halted him again.

Sokka bit his lip before he spoke, "Fine, but you're probation, but if we catch even a hint that you're still the angry fire jerk when we met you then you better be able to run fast."

"Thank you." Zuko even bowed when he said and went so far as to motion Mai and Ty-Lee to do the same.

Katara recovered when she heard this, "Sokka no. He helped Azula how can we trust him?"

"Look, I don't like the fire jerk with us either but I can't see any way around it."

She turned to Toph for support but didn't find any, "Hey, the feet don't lie." She turned Suki and Haru who didn't help her either. Aang started to try and reason with her and apologize at the same time.

Sokka was back to business as usual though, "So what made the Fire Lord freak and try to kill his kids and their friends?"

Zuko wasn't quite eager to spill his newest sob story to them, but he explained anyways, "He heard about what Azula did in Ba-Sing-Se. He became so worried about it that he went over the edge and lost it."

"Well can't really blame him. You're sisters pretty demonic."

Zuko gut clenched, he hadn't figured that part into his plan to start traveling with the avatar, "Well, she might be coming this way too."

"WHAT!?" Sokka immediate shock wore off and he started scrutinizing the surrounding bushed like she might come out of them at any moment.

"The chances of us meeting her way out here are slim. She's too used to living in the palace to be able to live out here for too long." He took a deep breath before he continued, "She'd probably still try to kill you so leave her to me if she does show up."

"None of us are as strong as she is. Although I never thought I'd say this, we'll stay with you if she does find us. You're one of us now. Besides, you wouldn't stall her long enough anyway."

Zuko's temper flared for an instant before he put the comment down to one that he deserved. He'd put with being the butt of a joke for a while he decided.

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Azula and Rayk had been following the same goat path until the ocean swallowed up the sun. Now Rayk had busied himself with setting up camp. He just pretended not to notice that Azula didn't do anything but lay out her sleeping bag and light the fire once he'd gathered enough wood.

Once the whole camp had been set up Azula decided to speak to him again, "I believe you owe me an explanation."

"All right." He sat down on the woodpile, "Has your intelligence network ever told you about the Order of the White Lotus?"

"No, they only tell me worthwhile things." She answered breezily.

"We're not to be taken lightly. You saw what they did to the prison, and those were just the grunts."

"Oh, I'm scared now."

"Do you want the explanation or not?" Azula rolled her eyes but motioned for him to continue in a bored sort of way, "All right, Iroh is one of the highest ranking members of the group. He's been pulling a few strings over the years. Mainly, though, he's been guiding Zuko and teaching him."

"Oh, so that's their great plan? Kill the Fire Lord and put his son on the thrown like what _always_ _happens_. You didn't need to Iroh with him all that time then. Zuko's as weak now as he was when he was banished."

"We're not going to put Zuko on the thrown! Iroh was sent with him for other reasons."

"Like what? So he could be brain washed and kill dad himself?"

Rayk moved to speak but stopped and he calmed himself first, "I don't know the whole plan. I do what I'm told and I'm told what I want because of it. Right now a few more pieces of the puzzle need to be collected. That's what my job is right now."

"So I'm just another piece of their puzzle too? Or do you have another motive for bringing me along?" She asked snidely.

"I didn't have to bring you…you'd come with us in the end anyways." He added quietly.

"So the White Lotus is _so_ all mighty that they think they can dictate what I do?" Her voice was level but Rayk could tell she was pissed off. Not an emotion he wanted exhibited by Azula.

"I've been told that it's the only logical sequence." He muttered almost apologetically.

"So they formed so many fall backs that it wouldn't matter who died?"

Rayk gulped because he knew what was coming, "No, there are key people. Look, this doesn't matter. They're working towards making the world at peace with itself again!"

"So why does it seem they don't care who dies for the sake of the plan?" Azula's plan had worked and Rayk was left speechless.

It was good minute before he continued, "No group is perfect. This one works toward the greater good." The way he said it she could tell it was doctrine.

"Very well, I'll go with you. I want to see this plan of theirs unfold." She didn't wait to see what and lay down in her sleeping bag and nodded off. Without any other option Rayk lay down and rested too.

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Iroh sighed as he came into the camp he been marching towards ever since he'd escaped the prison. The jailbreak had gone smoothly and he'd been able to leave Rayk a note as well. Now, without a word he went into his designated tent.

The tent gave him a mild case of nostalgia. He hadn't used it since he'd first joined the order and been sent out on field missions. He dragged his mind back to the present. He made a pot of tea for himself and opened the bag that had been left on his bed. He withdrew what he'd been looking for: a lotus tile and a large dragon scale. The scale seemed to pulse with some otherworldly power.

He kept the tile in his hand and dropped the scale into the tea. He poured a glass for himself and grimaced. He hated the next part. He took a sip of the tea and lay down quickly. He felt an odd sensation and a moment later he was standing over himself.

He took a step out of the tent and scanned the camp. No eyes turned towards him. True, he was a spirit now, but there were some people in the order that could see spirits like him. It didn't look like anybody here could so he thought of talking to Rayk and took a step. The world transformed into a liquid stream and when his foot hit the ground he was standing over Rayk and Azula. Her presence disconcerted a little bit. He hadn't thought she'd go this far with him.

He reached down and put a finger to Rayk's forehead. Immediately he was launched into Rayk's dream. He grimaced when he got there. It was a war zone from the Earth Kingdom front. Rayk was standing a short distance away with a spear that was too big for him. He was shaking like a leaf where he stood. He was watching what Iroh had a funny feeling were the Earth Kingdom soldiers. They were massive bodies with demonic faces glaring from underneath the helmet.

Iroh put a hand on Rayk's shoulder. Rayk spun around and grew calm when he saw Iroh. The whole scene dissolved into a simple grassy hill.

"Those memories still trouble you?" Iroh asked inquisitively.

"It's a scar like your nephew's. It can never be healed."

Iroh wanted to snap Rayk out of his self-pity, but knew he wasn't the one to do it. Rayk respected him too much for it to work.

Instead he started what he'd come here to do, "You're closing in on the new member?"

Rayk didn't miss the abrupt change of subject, "Yes, though I might be a little late with the extra baggage." He didn't need to indicate Azula; "We'll need to stop for supplies tomorrow. Can you help us at all?"

"No, I'm still on my way back to the Echelon to get the next part. She may be twisted and I don't agree with the others on including her, but there's still a glimmer of hope for her. Don't smother it."

"You can't be serious. She's self-centered and disregards everything else's life like a plaything! What chance could there possibly be of here becoming remotely close to a decent person!?"

"She is what she is because of Ozai. Now that she's fighting against him there's a chance that his work will be undone. I don't think it'll happen, but the Echelon isn't a dictatorship, so we will wait."

Rayk mouth curled into snarl, "Never insult me like that!"

It took Iroh a second to figure out what made Rayk snap, but it was too late. Rayk had ejected him from his mind. Iroh stood over Rayk's sleeping form in disbelief. He hadn't realized what he'd said, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

Rayk was very irritable the next day to the point where he barely cared if he angered Azula. She had no idea what had done that to him. He was lower than she was so it can't have been that she hadn't 'done her part', as he'd probably put it, in setting up camp. She brushed the problem out of her mind since it was of no real consequence.

What did matter was that they were nearing a town today. She could finally reach her contacts and learn about this White Lotus group. They must have a far reach and if she could get them in her pocket the Fire Nation, and by extension herself, would rule the world.

What she hadn't counted on was how small the village was. She hadn't placed her contacts frivolously. They were strategically placed throughout the country. Therefore, when she got her first glimpse of the backwater, one ostrich-horse town her accumulated anger cracked her porcelain face for a moment. She recovered before Rayk could notice, not that he would've with the mood he was in.

Rayk went about the town to collect what they needed, but there was no emotion in anything he did. His anger at himself for blowing up at Iroh and towards Iroh himself had made his outward appearance as hard as Azula's normally was once he cooled down. Once Rayk had everything that he thought they would need, as well as a few things he wasn't too sure about, he waited for the moment when they could make an inconspicuous exit. This came a few hours after lunch when a caravan pulled in with all sorts of items to be traded.

There were also wanted posters on the side of one of the carriages and mean looking thug at the head of one of them, the village didn't seem to mind this though. They gathered around to start the bartering of whatever the caravan had. Rayk took this as his cue to leave the tiny village without anyone noticing. He motioned towards Azula and they started down the one road that spanned the length of the town.

It was because their backs were turned that they didn't see the thug give a signal. A group of Yu-Yan archers jumped out of one of the carriages. The arrows flew silently through the air and it was only Rayk's slight misfortune that he dropped a roll of bread that he was eating that saved him from the deadly volley.

Azula was not so lucky. Four shafts buried themselves in her back, another behind her knee and one more dangerously close to her neck. Rayk whirled around and saw them cocking more arrows to their bows.

He whipped his left hand around and shot knives at the group. Only one connected because of the distance. It had the desired effect though, the archers had scattered. He picked up Azula's bleeding body and ran as fast as he could, which unfortunately meant dropping the supplies he'd purchased a few hours before.

He knew there was no way he'd be able to out run them while carrying her so he went off the road and across the field that covered the valley the town had been in. He placed Azula on the ground carefully so the arrows wouldn't move and turned to get ready to do something that he would normally call suicide.

The archers caught sight of him less than a minute later and they didn't even hesitate when the fired. Rayk threw his hand out again and succeeded in hitting three of the five arrows that had been shot at him. The other two bounced harmlessly off his gauntlet. He threw the last of his loaded knives at them and two went down.

The remaining three threw a net between them that already had arrows attached to it. Rayk just rolled his eyes to say 'Like that'll actually work'. They launched it regardless and Rayk sent his grappling hook towards the center of the net. It caught and the rest of the net wound around it. He reeled it back and started to strafe around them to dodge the new hail of arrows that was being launched at him.

Rayk swung his right hand around and launched the grappling hook again to try and get it to curve. It did and the added weight of the net made it heavy enough to actually trip the archers up. Rayk reeled the hook in as he ran towards them. His gauntlet's blade flashed out as he went and he'd cut threw their bows before they were back on their feet.

They drew knives out but he could tell they weren't proficient with them. They didn't hold themselves with the same indefatigable confidence they had with their arrows. One lunged towards him and he sidestepped and kicked the legs out from under the archer. He caught the blade as it fell and brought it up to hit the other knife that was flashing down from above him. He caught both of the knives and threw them hard. They each found their mark in an archer's throat.

The last archer was trying to rise from where Rayk had floored him. Rayk gave him a swift kick in the head and he was out. Rayk backed up towards where he'd left Azula's body, watching for the archers to give any sign of life. Then he heard a movement behind him. The thug from the carriage was dangling Azula by the arm and had a knife to her throat. Her eyes were opened, but were filmed over from the pain of the arrows.

Rayk let out an exasperated yell at the thug before he was silenced, "You are to lay down your weapons and follow me to the nearest city where you will both be handed over to the police and I get my bounty." Rayk gave the man an appraising look and raised a hand like he was going to start bartering with him.

Instead he said, "I hope your endorphins kick in fast." The thug got a puzzled expression that turned to intense pain when Azula fired a blast point blank into his chest. Rayk had started running a split second after he'd spoken. He still had to slide to catch Azula.

He set her down again and, as delicately as he could, removed the arrows. He put bandages over the wounds once he'd inspected them.

Rayk started to give her a diagnostic as he started to work on a splint, "You're not going to be able to walk for a while. The arrow around your knee went through some tendons. You also shouldn't try moving your head around much. You're going to feel like you have a severe case of whip lash in a few hours." He rolled her over to finish the splint and noticed that she'd been biting her lip so much it had started to bleed. Next he cut a branch off a lone tree and cut it down to make a crutch. He added some fabric for padding.

He picked her up off the ground and handed it to her and found he couldn't resist a slight jab, "So you can carry your weight." She tried to swing the crutch at him and gasped in pain. He was forced to catch her again.

"You shouldn't make any sudden movements for a long time."

"Thank you for that wonderful insight, _genius_."

"Have you ever said the words thank you in a sentence that isn't sarcastic?"

"No, people around me know what's expected of them and they carry it out."

"Well you're not exactly in your life now are you? I'd suggest you get some common decency so we don't have to worry about getting in a fight everywhere we go into because of you." Rayk didn't give her a chance to argue. He stalked off along the road, though he did go slower than normal so Azula could keep up.

A short way along the road Rayk turned and started to head towards the mountains again. Azula just groaned at the thought of hiking through them with crutches.

"Relax, there's an easy path through them and we're getting close to the meeting place so you can rest soon."

"Marvellous." Azula muttered under her breath.


	16. Induction

Instincts Info: I do not in any shape way or form own ATLA, or nickelodeon for that matter

Instincts Info: I do not in any shape way or form own ATLA, or nickelodeon for that matter. Now a notice: If anyone needs a beta-reader I am available. I'm currently doing that for rldragon (check him out he's got good stuff!) and I'd be more than willing to be the same for you, well, not too many of you. Included on my resume is an excellent understanding of phonetics to make your dialogue sound more genuine! I honestly don't know why I don't use that same skill here very often…

Also a big thanks to Kai Dragoon for the review!

Chapter Sixteen: Induction

Azula was getting better on the crutches and was now able to hobble along at close to the same speed she used to walk. Her own weakness sickened her. It was almost as bad as the fact that she'd gotten hit at all. It was all Rayk's fault. Because of him she had no one to direct her anger at since he'd killed the Yu-Yan archers. She even hated herself for that idea since without him she would undoubtedly be dead right now. The whole situation just forced all the bad emotions back on herself.

"You know I could go behind a rock and you could let off some steam." Rayk had apparently shrugged off the bad mood from earlier and was his usual observant self.

"You should use more than a rock." She said flatly.

"Ouch, that bad, huh?" He didn't wait for the answer and went a good distance away then found a set of rocks that lined up nicely and crouched behind the farthest.

A few kilometers away the gaang witnessed a fireball tantamount to a star detonating and felt the heat wave a moment later.

"Zuko, is that anything we should know about?" Sokka asked in a scared voice.

"I don't even know _what_ that was." Zuko answered in a stunned voice.

"Right, well then, all in favour of picking up the pace and getting out of here raise their hand!" The vote was unanimous.

Rayk emerged from behind the molten slagheap that his rocks had become covered from head to toe in soot and ash. He walked forward slowly with a look on his face that said he should have known better. Azula came close to laughing he looked so funny. He walked close to where to she was turned his head slightly and intentionally coughed out a small cloud of ash and looked back at her with the same expression.

For the first time in her life Azula actually laughed because something was genuinely funny and not because she'd tricked someone or caused pain. The sound startled her like when you just start to hiccup. She almost clamped her hand across her mouth but remembered she had crutches.

Once Rayk had cleaned himself off as best he could they continued. Rayk had been surprised by Azula's laugh. It hadn't actually sounded evil like he thought it would have. It had actually sounded like a normal laugh, which left his head echoing with Iroh's words about how there was a chance that she could turn into a decent person. Less than fifteen minutes later Rayk stopped along the goat path they were using and looked down across the valley that was blanketed by forest. He reached into his duffel bag and pulled out a pair of binoculars and scanned the forest intensely.

"Gotcha." He murmured under his breath, "Okay climb on." He crouched down and offered his hands as a step for her good foot. Azula immediately became nervous. No one liked putting their life in someone else's hands, her least of all.

"I can't leave you up here and I need to go down there so our options are fairly limited here." He explained patiently. Azula moved very slowly but eventually was hanging off of Rayk's back with the crutches across his front.

"Hold on tight!" he said as he jumped down the steep rock wall that bordered the valley. She didn't bother with a snide comment.

"Guys, we got company!" Toph said slowly and the group turned as one with white faces. They were all scared of whatever made the giant explosion earlier.

Toph squinted like she was looking at something a long ways off even though she was just concentrating more, "It's a person, no, two people. One's riding piggy-back and has crutches."

"They could have been hurt by the explosion earlier. We should if there's anything else wrong." Katara had a worried expression on her face.

"No I'm pretty sure they're okay." Toph said with a growing sense of unease.

"I know I'm going to regret this: why?" Sokka's feeling of bad luck had returned.

"They came down that." Toph pointed a finger at the rocky escarpment on their right.

Sokka blanched, "Why do we always run into crazy people!? Let's go before they get any closer."

Over the next fifteen minutes Toph was forced to tell them that the pair was making steady progress on them and by the time the sun started to sink they agreed to stay where they were and meet whoever was following them.

Rayk came running into the glade and saw the whole group complete with its new members, "Son of a…" Rayk was not alone in his proclamation. Everyone's eyes widened as they recognized one or both of the newcomers.

Sokka was the first to react. He drew his swords out and started to twirl them expertly as he advanced. Rayk lowered Azula down and stood up to take on the advancing swordsman.

His eyes widened slightly when he saw what Sokka was wielding, "This is going to be fun." His gauntlet's blade shot out and he got into a fighting stance.

Zuko stepped forward before either could do anything, "Rayk stop, there's too many of us for you to take on. Just surrender and save us the time."

"Sorry, I don't really have a choice. You have something that I need." Sokka reacted and both blades flashed downward. A knife appeared in Rayk's left hand. He raised his hands and stopped both blades in their tracks. Before Sokka could get over his surprise Rayk had kicked him backwards with flat of his foot.

As Sokka was falling Rayk fired his grappling hook, which grabbed Sokka's bag. It was wrenched off his shoulder. Rayk caught it and rifled through its contents quickly before anyone could move to stop him. He grabbed a scroll out of it and was buried in the ground a second later. His hand with the scroll was still over his head.

"You know a pick pocket usually tries to steal without being seen." Toph said sarcastically.

"You needn't worry. I wouldn't try to steal from a blind girl." Rayk countered suavely.

"How did you know I was blind?"

"You're blind?" Ty-Lee said, shocked, "I mean I could have figured that out. Look what you're wearing."

"What's wrong with I what I where Pillowcase?"

Rayk intervened before the situation degenerated into a catfight, "I know about all of you. Katara you are a master water bender and have healing powers. You care deeply for your friends and family, which can lead you to be slightly overbearing at times. This clashes with Toph's personality leading to fights between both of you once and a while.

Toph, you tend sarcastic and, much like your element, tough outwardly. You've grown attached to each member of the group though, which is why you made the funny nicknames for them.

Sokka, you're the unproclaimed leader of the group since your ideas have the led the group through tricky situations. You sometimes feel helpless though since you are the only one to lack bending. You have sarcastic wit and despite that you are the but of many jokes. You also place science in higher regard than many of the others.

Aang, despite the weight of the situation you manage to keep an air of levity about you. Because of the massive task set out before you, you tend to be hard on yourself even when the outcome of something wasn't related to you." Everyone was staring at Rayk's head with an open mouth, he turned to Zuko and the others, "Do I need to go into yours?" Zuko shook his head dumbly.

Sokka recovered the quickest from his prone position on the ground but still didn't say anything for a moment. Having themselves be laid before them wasn't a pleasant experience.

Finally Sokka recovered enough to talk, "How do you know all that?! I've never even met you before and you know all our names and all that stuff!"

"I have all that knowledge only of the people. The reason I know it corresponded to each of you was this." Rayk moved the scroll around his hand and accidentally dropped it, "Oops, could someone pick that up for me?"

Sokka came forward and picked up the scroll but made to put it back in his bag, "Wait!" Rayk called out before it was in the bag, "Look at the end of it." Sokka did as he was asked and got a slightly startled look on his face as he pried a pai-sho piece off the scroll's end.

"What's this?" Rayk opened his mouth to speak but Sokka cut him off with a raised his hand, "Besides a pai-sho piece."

"That was what I was looking for. I was told that whoever had that would be the one that I'd been told to induct into the order. Oh, before I forget: Zuko, your uncle says hi." Rayk didn't feel like explaining the whole thing so he laid bait to see if he could get Zuko to.

Zuko's face lit up, "Where is he? Is he still in jail?"

"Oh no, he broke out awhile ago. You probably didn't know a lot about him if you though a place like that could hold him. Like he was a member of"

"The Order of the White Lotus. Yeah I knew that. We had their help to get away from some bounty hunters that were after us."

"You'll probably be seeing him soon then." Rayk started to address the whole group since he could tell that Zuko didn't know anything more than that, "Despite what you may be thinking at this point the group that Zuko named has the aim of ending the war and bringing balance back to the world, well as much as it can anyways."

Azula couldn't put up with being ignored any longer so she spoke up, "What he's not telling you is that it's made up of a bunch of old fogies who play at being heroes for the greater good. Even if it means killing lots of people."

"None of us are going to be part of a group if she's in it." Aang's anger was perfectly justified, but he was still nervous about being in close proximity to her.

Rayk noticed this, "You don't have to worry about her. She's no threat to you now. She got shot full of holes yesterday so she couldn't hurt a puppy-mouse." Rayk could feel the death glare she was giving him and he hurriedly continued, "Half of what she said was right. Their aim is for the greater good, but they would take no pleasure in taking lives and avoid it if they can."

"We still won't join if she's in it. It can't be what you say it is if she's a member." Aang said flatly.

"She's not a member. Sokka is the only one in this group that would meet the criteria for entrance into it. He has the capacity for great foresight, he up holds his morals, and has great ingenuity. We need people like you to be able to keep the order going."

"I'm not leaving them to go and join this group." Sokka said matter of factly.

"I'm not asking you to. The plan they have in motion right now would have you collaborating even if we were asking you to. Iroh is going to meet with the other leaders right now where they will work out the details for an insurrection to behead the Fire Nation monarchy."

"That's Aang's destiny and no one else's" Katara interjected.

"Which is precisely why we would be collaborating anyways. We're willing to help you out but you won't be getting support from the army you left in the Earth Kingdom. As we speak Ozai is drawing his entire army around himself to beet back the invasion he knows is coming. Whether it's the one that the Day Black Sun will make or simply his paranoia is hard to say. It doesn't matter though because when the army is scrambling to prepare they will be left vulnerable for a short time and that is when the Order will strike and bring the war to an end."

Everyone that had been listening excluding Azula looked at each other and drew into a tight huddle to discuss their choice.

They drew apart a minute later and Sokka delivered their verdict, "I'll join."

For the first time since he'd spotted them Rayk smiled, "Great, can you get me out of the ground so I can give you the full details?"

Instinct's Info: How'd you like Ty-Lee's nickname? Tell if you have a better one, I'd appreciate it! A review wouldn't a bad thing either!


	17. New Everything

Instincts Info: I don't know how but I've fallen behind on this story

Instincts Info: Okay, site for you to visit to help with writer's block: storytellersinc.. They have a fanfic section for specific help. Now the regular stuff: I don't own ATLA and please review, and a HUGE thanks to Lady Ba Sing Se for all the positive reviews!

Chapter Seventeen: New Everything

Since Top hadn't voiced that Rayk was lying he was let into the group a little easier than Zuko or the others had been. Azula, in stark contrast, had to wear rock cuffs most of the time.

When Sokka went out to get his usual contribution to their meal (meat!) Rayk went with him and came back after Sokka with an arm full of plants. He selected a few from the pile and placed them beside the pot that Katara was making their meal in.

Sokka gave him a quizzical look so he explained, "Well the position of the meat guy was already taken so I went for herb guy." He turned around to talk to Katara; "The ones on the left will make it spicy and sweet. The other pile makes it sour for the first bit." He turned back to Sokka who had his mouth hanging open slightly.

"Thanks for the help." Katara said sweetly.

After he'd drawn attention to himself Rayk did his best to lose it. He went through how he'd set up Azula and his own camp.

Halfway through this Aang sidled up to him surreptitiously, "Rayk, could you teach me about the herbs?"

Rayk was only slightly taken aback, "Sure, what did you want to know exactly?"

"Which one's are around here and what they're like."

Rayk turned around and grabbed a scroll out of his bag and handed it to Aang, "Any particular reason you want to know this stuff?"

"What? Er, no, not really."

"So you just…oop, looks like the soups done." Katara had gotten the bowls out, "How good is her cooking normally?"

"Really good with what we have." Aang said empathetically. He hurried towards the fire and helped her with bending the soup into the bowls. Rayk had already started to make his own notes in his head about Aang's little nuances and idioms.

When everyone got together for the meal they almost formed a line, since they stretched around the campfire it wasn't like a serving line though. Azula was at the end with a space between herself and Katara. Rayk was sitting next to her.

"Thank you." She'd said it when her bowl had made it to her. Everyone stopped what they were doing whether it was mid scoop or swallow. All eyes were riveted on her. Her voice hadn't sounded quite natural.

Rayk tried to divert the attention, "Thank you for taking my advice." He said like it wasn't that big of a deal. It was only after that did things slowly go back to normal. Azula had seemed unaffected by the whole thing and had carried on eating despite the awkward silence.

Rayk filed away another perspective of Azula's psyche. She had been the center of attention for her father so she'd grown accustomed to attention. Whether she realized it or not didn't matter, the fact was that she would try to find something new to attract it once the shock of her manners had worn off. Rayk was already trying to think of a way to use that to make her less cruel.

When the sun went down the group didn't go to sleep like they normally did. The day had given them too much to digest in the time they'd had. So they'd sat around the fire trying different ways of entertaining themselves.

Sokka had tried ghost stories and had partially succeeded until Azula hijacked it by using her bending to steal the suspense of his story. This did not go over well.

Aang had been fidgeting where he'd been sitting during the story and continued to do so right through Azula's performance.

When she was done and most of the glares had died away he spoke, "Rayk, what's the invasion plan we're using now?" A lot of inquisitive eyes turned towards him.

"Well, I don't know the details, but I do know that when the harbor undergoes barricading we'll sneak some people into the Crater." More inquisitive eyes, "That's where all the ministers and people that work at the palace live. We'll cut off all the personnel at the docks and make a choke point at the entrance from the Flow to the Crater and make a small riot at the opposite end of the Crater."

Sokka interjected, "What's with the names?"

"The Fire Nation's Capital city is a dormant volcano. One side of it blew out a path through the volcano down to the water the last time it erupted. The Crater is the sunken peak of the of it and the Flow is where the lava flow ran through to the water." He received a nod of thanks and proceeded with his explanation, "The people in the Crater **will** panic. When they try to flee the city we'll capture them. After that I don't know anything."

"So how am I supposed to fight the Fire Lord if you're going to capture him?" Aang asked with a little concern, "I'm not going to fight someone if they're defenseless."

"He won't be. The Palace is fortified enough that anybody inside won't budge no matter what happens outside. I'm willing to bet that's what the riot is going to be. You can use it to get into the palace and take out the Fire Lord. That's actually where most of us are going to be I bet."

"So you're okay with fighting your own father?" Azula's comment was meant to evoke pain.

It did, though not in the way she was expecting, "There is **nothing** between me and my father." Rayk's face was barely controlled.

Everyone was surprised from that statement because of Rayk's conviction, Zuko most of all, "You said you were taught everything you know from your father though. That didn't mean anything to you?" It was obvious Zuko was a little irked.

Rayk hmphed and over shot his next remark, "Your relationship with your dad was better than mine."

Zuko became livid; "My _father_ gave me **this**" he gestured wildly at his scar, "for speaking out of turn!"

Rayk's anger matched Zuko's, "Yeah, and guess what I got for doing the same thing? I got a spear for my **eighth** **birthday** and a ticket to the front lines in the Earth Kingdom for **two tours of duty**!!" The group sat where they were, too stunned to say anything.

Rayk continued with shaky breathing, "That's why my father is responsible for everything thing I know, whether I wanted it or not." Rayk couldn't stay seated anymore and stood up to go to bed.

The rest of the gaang didn't stay up much longer. Rayk's horrid bit of information had soured their mood. Zuko went by to see if he could fix things, he'd been doing that a lot lately.

He stopped out side the tent, "Rayk?" He didn't hear any sounds of protest so he lifted the tent flap. Rayk was sitting crouched over, writing something on a scroll. When he saw Zuko come in he made to hide the scroll, which he showed he regretted since it said he was trying to hide it.

"What were you doing?"

"Nothing." The answer had come way to fast. Mai and Ty-Lee sidled up to the tent without anyone noticing and stood beside Zuko.

"Come on, what are you hiding?" Zuko crouched and came into the tent. Mai and Ty-Lee didn't wait for an invitation and came in to, backing Rayk up against the other side with the scroll held behind his back.

Rayk felt someone grab the scroll from behind him, it was Azula, "Oh dear. Rayk is this why you were acting so nice before?" She said in a mocking whisper as she held it up over his shoulder. It was notes on them and the others that were in the camp.

Rayk seemed to recover his usual form, "Don't tell me you all thought I was Mr.Perfect. Sorry to disappoint you, but you should have known better."

"So you've been lying this whole time?!" Zuko asked in horror. The suspicion would spread to all of them and the little trust they had would be shattered.

"No, I haven't told any of you a lie. If I had Toph would've been all over me. It's sort of a hobby, okay? If the Order needs to put anyone under surveillance they can pull up a file so it's easier to discern the person's movements."

"So you're getting ready to spy on all of us?" Ty-Lee had actually shown another emotion other than joy.

Rayk was getting flustered, "No, it's standard procedure, just, eergh!" Rayk took a deep breath then continued, "Look I have tons of these on almost every person I've ever met. I almost never use any of them. I just do it to keep my observation skills up to snuff. Happy now?"

The four of them just smiled at him in mock amusement. Seeing the Rayk that was always in control lose it a little lightened there mood considerably.

"Look, sorry for hiding it, but your reaction is better than the one I would've got from the others. Just don't tell them okay. They're still leery about all of us and the last thing any of us want is to give them reason to be suspicious. Something like, I don't know, all of us sitting in the same tent having a conversation!" It was obvious that was their cue to leave.

"Hey! Who's have'n a party?" Toph's voice echoed through the camp. Mai, Zuko, Ty-Lee, and Azula crawled out of his tent and almost walked into the diminutive earth bender.

"What're do'n in Rayk's tent?" She was blunt as always.

Before any of them could answer Rayk came out and did so, "I can only assume that Zuko came to apologize" Rayk's expression was asking, "and he saw me writing. He made the other curious about what I was writing."

"Can I see it?" Toph's voice was totally honest.

Rayk didn't miss a thing, "No you can't. Sokka might fall for that but I won't." he smiled at her and she returned it.

This carried on into an uncomfortable silence, which was broken by Rayk again, "I'm not hiding anything so stop trying to feel for the palpitations."

"I was seeing if your heart was beating faster." Toph answered though there wasn't a question.

"He just said that _genius_." Azula noted snidely. Mai and Zuko both left. Neither wanted to see the fight that was brewing.

Before the fight could break out Ty-Lee spoke up, "Guys don't fight! You need your sleep to keep you aura looking pretty." Once again, Rayk was amazed by how childish she could be and still seem like a legitimate authority on the subject.

Toph tried to phrase an intelligent question, "What? Oh, don't bother I'm going to sleep." She turned on her heel and went back into her earth tent. Azula did likewise leaving Ty-Lee and Rayk standing out in the dark.

"Tomorrow is going to be a long day." Rayk said sadly before he retired along with Ty-Lee.

The long day started off slightly better than Rayk had thought. He woke up with a start covered in cold sweat like he did whenever his child hood memories were dredged up, but he felt calmer than he normally did. There was a smell wafting through the camp. He sniffed at it and his nose led him out is his tent.

Zuko was standing over a revived fire with a teapot that was steaming away happily. Rayk walked over and sat across from him. The tea smelled really good and Zuko to knew this too because he was smiling like he'd accomplished a difficult task.

"I hope this doesn't wake the others up. There's not enough here for all of them." Rayk said half jokingly. No sooner had he said this than Katara and Haru emerged from their tents the same way that Rayk had.

"Well, we can start on this pot and I'll make another." Zuko poured a cup and offered it to Rayk, "I tried to make it like uncle Iroh did." It was now obvious that Rayk was the guinea pig for Zuko's tea test.

"If this is half as good as your uncle's I can die happy." He took a sip, "Wow, Iroh would definitely be proud of you for this. What'd you put in this?" Zuko lifted up a branch from a small bush. Rayk looked at it for a second then reached across and snatched it from Zuko.

He looked at it carefully for a second then paled, "Zuko this is the red-tiger!" A blank look, "It relaxes all your muscles totally!" Still a blank look, "That includes my heart!" This gave Zuko a horrified expression.

Zuko looked around wildly and spotted Katara coming over with a worried expression, "What's going,"

Zuko interrupted, "Bend the tea out of him!"

"What are you talking about? I can't bend water inside someone!" She responded, equally panicked.

"What do you mean you can't?" Zuko asked getting more horrified by the syllable. Rayk was now holding his chest like the act would help him start to breath easier.

"I've never tried before!"

"_Please_." Rayk wheezed. Katara acted, not knowing what to expect. She went with her instincts and tried to draw the tea out of him. Rayk's head snapped back, he made a gargling sound and rose into the air with his limbs twitching. A second later a stream of water came out of his lips and he dropped to the ground where he started to gulp in air.

Katara was looking at her hands as though they might try to attack her. She didn't know what she'd been expecting, but it hadn't been that. Rayk's body had acted like it had been possessed. She lowered her arms and took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

"Thank you." Rayk said in a weak voice. Zuko was still looking at her with the same shocked expression that he'd had when Rayk's head had snapped back.

The commotion had woken up everyone else, including Toph and Sokka, much to their displeasure. As the sleepers came toward the source of their rude awakening they perked up as they started to smell the tea. Katara saw this and threw the tea as far as she could with the aid of her bending. It traveled a good kilometer and a half.

"Okay, what died and then spit up what killed it?" Toph asked in a voice that sounded like she was dead.

Rayk had recovered enough to be able to stand, "You were pretty close to it there. I drank something I shouldn't have. She bended it out of me, and found that it's easy to manipulate the rest of the body." Eyes snapped open in surprise.

"I think you got rid of that annoying crick in my neck too, thanks." Rayk added as he turned his head this way and that.

"So what was it that you had to drink exactly?" Azula's voice caused some of them to jump since she was standing behind them.

"Some of the tea that Zuko made had the red-tiger bush in it." Rayk said a little embarrassed for both him and Zuko.

Breakfast passed with silence and it was only when Aang and Katara were cleaning the dished that Rayk got a chance to say what'd been on his mind, "Katara, I know what you made me do might have scared you, but it's okay. That talent is too good to be wasted." Aang was well aware that his presence would probably make another awkward silence.

"Yes it is a good trick to have, but I could feel you trying to stop your own body from moving that way. Your will against it was nothing compared to how strong my bending was. It's scary to find that someone's life can be so weak." She was getting a little teary.

Rayk noticed Aang's consternation; "I think Zuko wanted to start your fire bending lessons today. You should go talk to him." Aang nodded his understanding and left so they could have a little privacy, "I can see why that would scare you, tell you the truth, I was scared out of my mind when it was happening, but you haven't had any practice. Given some time people might not even notice what you're doing!"

A few tears leaked out of her eyes, "I can't risk that. I was acting on instinct. If I did one thing wrong I could have forced the water out of somewhere else then you'd be dead and it'd be my fault, and…" She was into full-blown crying now.

Rayk knew he'd over done it, "I'm sorry. I won't bring it up again."

"Widen your stance…wider…wider…good." That one sentence evoked irritation in Aang and the fact that he was hearing it from his second fire-bending teacher only added to it.

"Your left foot should be level with your other." Azula was sitting a short distance away, watching her brother start to train the avatar.

Zuko waited fro Aang to move his feet in line and then continued, "Okay now just take deep, even breaths and,"

"I know this already!" Aang exploded.

Zuko was a little shocked to hear this, "Well, okay, show me what else you know." Aang was a little embarrassed now that Zuko thought he actually had some formal training. He decided on just trying to make a fire blast. He already knew the basic motions and he succeeded in getting a straight blast of fire.

"Your form is bad. Your fire's strength comes from the breath. Exhale as you do it. Try again." Aang tried this new bit of information and made a tremendous blast of fire.

"Look Zuzu, he's already better than you are." Azula said mockingly.

"Why are you even here?" Zuko asked annoyed.

"There's hardly anything to do here. I prefer to do something entertaining." She replied airily.

"Couldn't you go annoy Rayk or someone else?" Zuko pleaded, though the tone wasn't there. She stood up and made a show of thinking about it, then walked off in Rayk's direction.

Zuko turned his attention back to the lesson, "Okay, that was a good blast but you didn't have any control of it. I'll show you some basic forms for controlling your fire once it's out."

Instincts Info: There are a lot of elisions in this chapter, but it's easier than writing it all out as the chapter long anyways. Hope you like it, please review!


	18. White Lotus

Instincts Info: Okay a section to itself this time: visit storytellersinc.. The place rocks! Doesn't have much but what it does is good. I don't own ATLA and again, thank you Lady Ba Sing Se for the reviews. Much appreciated. Lastly, I have come to the conclusion that I want too much to happen with the characters fro the original time line to accommodate so I'll be taking things slower which means my original story of 20 chapter is probably going to be like 30.

Chapter Eighteen: The Order of the White Lotus

When Aang's first fire bending lesson was over the camp was packed up quickly and as one everyone looked to Rayk for direction.

Before they left Rayk had some business to take care of though, "Katara? I'm going to ask you something that's going to sound crazy, but I don't see any way around it: could you help Azula's wounds heal?" She just stared at him dumbfounded, "Look, I know that you'd never help her normally but she needs to be able to move normally…it's for the sake of the entire group."

Katara eyed him skeptically for a long time then gave in, "Okay, but only because it's for the rest of us."

"I'll make sure to tell her that." Rayk answer slightly mocking her.

"Where is she right now?"

"Oh, I asked her to feed Appa before we left. Essentially I got her to do with reverse psychology." They heard Appa roar and felt a gust of wind, "Excuse me for a second." Rayk said politely. He back peddled and caught Azula as she came flying through the air.

He set her down again, "Katara's agreed to help you heal."

"Why would I except that her help? She's just a," Rayk stepped on her foot to keep her quiet as Katara had just come within earshot. Katara kneeled down without expression on her face and started with the bandages on the back. Rayk walked away rather quickly as the procedure did look like it could be slightly revealing.

Within half an hour Katara was done and as one everyone turned towards Rayk, "What are you all looking at me for? We're supposed to stay right here. They're coming to pick us up soon." No sooner had he said that than a group of about twenty people seemed to materialize out of the surrounding woods. Rayk seemed to be taking this rather well. Everyone else was very creeped out by it.

All the newcomers wore a loose fitting white shirt and black pants. Despite the uniformed clothes you could tell the group had people from everywhere. There were people as tanned as Katara and Sokka, people with the brown hair and green eyes of the 

Earth Kingdom and quite a few golden eyes among the group. The only discernable difference that the leader of the group had from everyone else was that he wore gloves with the white lotus emblazoned on them.

Rayk addressed him professionally, "Captain Fong, as punctual as ever." He broke into a grin and the two hugged like brothers.

They broke a second later and Fong spoke, "So where's the newbie?"

"Right over there. His name's Sokka and you're **not** putting him through initiation." Fong started to pout so Rayk reconsidered, "Fine, a ten second head start. Sokka start running."

"WHAT?!" Sokka was aghast, recovered, and sprinted off into the woods a second later.

Less than five minutes later a group of five came back in led by Fong who had a bruise on his face, "He doesn't need to go through initiation." Rayk doubled over in laughter as Sokka strode back into camp with a victorious grin on his face.

"Way to go Snoozles!" Toph punched the air as she started to relate to the others his daring exploits.

Rayk eventually recovered enough to talk, "Which way Fong?"

Fong lost a bit of his joviality, "Right to the top of us. Seems like your moving up in the world Rayk." Rayk just grinned at him. Although no actual direction was given everyone seemed to know where they were going.

The earth benders of the group dropped the ground around them and covered them again so they were completely underground in just over a second. Fires sprung up along the cave edges from the fire benders.

"You're going to want to sit down; we're going to be moving quite fast." Fong was sitting down already so every member of the gaang did so without delay, save Toph.

"What about Appa?" Aang asked more than a little worried.

"We can't fit him in here but he'll be right behind us with another group, right Fong." He nodded and a few earth bender disappeared into the ceiling.

The lights went out and Aang felt a little claustrophobia. He felt the earth around him move slightly and he had the sensation that they were gaining speed, though he couldn't tell.

"You might want to close your eyes." Fong was talking again, "There's sort of a change in scenery coming up. Scares the willies out of most people!" A second later the patch 

of earth they were sitting on shot out of the earth and started moving across the bottom of a lake. The water benders made a bubble for them and everyone drew a breath in, including Azula.

The lake was crystal clear and you could see forever through its azure depths. Schools of fish darted through the waters that were every colour imaginable. Giant koy-fish were beside them one second then a turtle-walrus. The scenery moved by at an astonishing speed so that you could barely register what was going on.

"I'm missing something life changing, aren't I?" Toph said in a depressed voice. Sokka nodded his head dumbly. Suddenly the light was gone again and they were back under the ground, at least Aang thought they were at first. Weird flashes of light seemed to be happening a long ways off, but that was impossible because of the cave in which they traveled. Next he knew something was up because he started to feel weird. He was able to see everyone plain as day around him because of light he felt was coming from him. He tried to speak and found he was using the voice he had when in the avatar state.

Fong started to speak in commanding voice, "Somebody pick Toph up, they're jumping us!"

"Wait, what do you mean," Toph started to ask in a panicked voice. Sokka jumped toward her voice and almost threw her into the air. He wasn't fast enough apparently because her body had gone limp and she was breathing very quickly.

"What happened to her?!" Sokka was most definitely freaking out now.

"If enough of the grandmasters get together they can make a group of us 'jump'. It's like teleporting from one place to another. We drift in and out of the spirit world and our world to cover great distances. The view would drive most people crazy to watch it happen but we can't see underground so it's safe most of the time. She saw it so…"

"So she's gone." Sokka finished in a blank voice, not really knowing what he was saying.

"No, she's not." Aang seemed to be switching between his normal voice and the otherworldly one from the avatar state every other second. He kept his eyes closed and the others heard him start to move around as if he was looking for something.

"Got her." He said as his voice switched to normal again. She screamed when she came back for a second then just stayed still and shivered in Sokka's arms.

"Anything else we should know about the Order, Rayk?" Azula's voice was pure venom.

"I've never heard of this before. If I had I would've told all of you." Rayk was fighting to keep control of his voice. He silently wanted to hit all the grandmasters. They knew who was with them, so what were they thinking?



The jump only lasted another few seconds then they shot out into a plain circular room at a full stop without anything moving at all. There were five doors equally spaced around the room and the walls were lined with tables that could be pulled out to fill the space. Toph was curled up in Sokka's arms with her eyes screwed shut.

Rayk was as livid as they all were, "Okay, where are those loonies? I want to know what in the agni they were thinking!"

"Surely you weren't referring to the others and myself." Rayk went rigid and his fist started clenching involuntarily. A smile slowly crept across his face.

"Master Rien, I was referring to the fact that you performed a jump in full knowledge that Toph Bei Fong was with us."

Rien's old bony form seemed to glow for a moment, then a wall of earth emerged from the ground and traveled back into the ceiling. Their surroundings had changed completely when it was gone. They were standing in a study

"Rayk, your voice says that you're getting attached to these new people. I thought this might happen, you'll be reassigned shortly. You know we can't have emotional attachments." His tone was lecturing like a school teacher.

"Situations change Rien, mine, just like yours, has."

Rien's face soured, "So you heard about that? I'm curious to know which little bird sang its lungs out."

"You should know that you can't exactly guard your thoughts and memories in a dream. I saw a few things that Iroh doesn't know I saw, your demotion from Grand Mater being one of them." Rien's face soured even more, "You aren't allowed to make jumps anymore because you don't have the necessary information to do it safely so quit living in the past and except that you're going into retirement very soon."

"You'd do well not to take that tone of voice. I still out rank you and can do what I want as you're still under my command."

"Quit playing the fool Rien. I'm amazed with the attitude you have that you haven't been kicked out already! Just leave me alone and I'll do likewise." Rayk didn't need to bargain, but he did anyway.

"How much information did you steal from Iroh?"

"That was a bluff you just fell for actually." Rayk said airily, "Now if you could return me to the others I'll try to forget this conversation." Rien's scowl was brutal and he deposited Rayk amongst the group a little harder than necessary.



Fong was explaining how the complex was set up but once he saw Rayk return he handed it over to somebody else and came over to speak with him, "What's going to happen to you? You were way out of line there."

Rayk put on a casual smile, "I don't think I was. Toph could have left her mind in the spirit world permanently and Rien and his cronies should have known that."

"That won't get you out of talking about them like that. Grandmasters aren't to be insulted, ever."

"That doesn't matter Fong. Iroh came to speak with me a little while ago and you know what talking in dreams is like. Rien isn't a Grandmaster anymore. You should have guessed that though. Add to the fact the Grandmasters are consulting with me now, and you know firsthand what Rien's ideals are like, he wouldn't have lasted much longer in the Upper Echelon anyways."

"He performed a jump without knowing who was in it?! No one here is that deluded, you missed something."

"Have you ever known me to miss a thing?" Rayk admitted the possibility a second later. "I'm working on it though. Maybe you could shed some light on what he's doing here?"

"He's just stationed here. If what I was told was right our original destination was compromised and he made an executive decision."

"He wouldn't want to see us if he was demoted, so why here?"

"You're guess is as good as mine if you're stumped."

"I'm not. I'll tell you later. Tell your men to be on alert. I don't think we're going to need force but I don't want anything getting out." Rayk turned on his heel and dashed out of the main room and snatched up the paper that had rooming arrangements on it. He had to act fast since the others had already cleared out.

Rayk came up to the door of the library and put his ear against it lightly because the door was unlocked and could swing open. His blood ran cold when he heard the two voices coming from inside.

"So you're saying that I could have most of White Lotus in my pocket if I cooperate with you." Azula voice was mocking him, but it still held interest.

"I have risked much to bring all this to fruition. With you at its head we could bring the war to an end in days." Rien was there as Rayk had expected.

Rayk held his breath waiting for Azula's response, "Your offer is quite attractive, but you know far too little. You see, I'm quite interested in what your group was planning 

originally and I now have other reasons not to go against it. You've wasted your time and your secrecy to do this."

Rayk let out a sigh of relief and walked into the room, "You risked bringing down the anger of everyone around you just to get to her? I can see why you were demoted, you're most definitely insane." Rayk kept a cool air about him to crank out Rien's anger.

Rien's eyes bugged when he saw Rayk, "Neither of you are going anywhere!" Azula was buried before she could think. She hadn't seen him earth bend the first time.

Rayk was faster because he had that knowledge and he jumped as the ground tried to swallow him up, "Come now. If you think that I'll fall for that you've been at your desk job too long." He smiled wryly. Rien actually yelled in anger and started ripping large chunks out of the ground and threw them at Rayk. He diverted the rock's momentum towards the ground and soon had a large pile in front of him. He didn't bother to do anything past that. He heard a muffled grunt and heard Rien hit the ground. Azula had blown herself out of the ground and scissor kicked him on the way down.

Before Rayk could go to get help she started to speak, "You're going to write about this on that scroll of yours aren't you?"

Something about the way she'd said it had been wrong, and then it clicked, "You've read it then." She nodded confirmation, "Was that your reason for siding with us?"

"Only partly, I really did it because I wanted to." She said breezily.

"Can I have it back then?" She tossed it to him and he turned to leave to get some help.

Rayk originally meant to get Toph fix the floor up so he headed towards the wing of the complex that housed the garden since he'd figured that was where she'd be. She was still shivering a little and Sokka was holding her like he was trying to warm her up.

"She doing okay?" Rayk asked a little worriedly.

"I'm blind not deaf, you know." Her mind was undamaged apparently, though her voice was hushed.

"Sorry, you feel like some bending? The jerk that I was talking to when we came here tried to pull something. Now there are craters all over the library floor."

"Sure, maybe that'll make me feel better." She tried to rise and she wobbled a little. Sokka stopped and helped to support her. It looked fairly comical because of how much he had to stoop.

Sokka and Toph moved slowly so Rayk had more than enough time to go and get Fong and a few others to take care of Rien. When they finally got there Azula had him tied up, 

pulled over a chair and was using his head for a foot rest. Fong and his group eagerly carted the traitor away.

Now Toph set to work. Bending seemed to stabilize her and soon the earth floor was immaculate again.

Sokka moved to help take her wait once she was done but she waved him away initially, "Thanks Sokka, but I think I'm good now." He stood up and started to leave assuming that she'd follow.

She started after him and hesitated slightly then wobbled again, "Eh, Snoozles? Maybe a little longer?" He ran back and crouched to help her again.

Once they left the room Rayk spoke in an open voice, "She was completely stable before she wobbled there wasn't she?"

"Bulls eye." Azula confirmed then slightly amused, "You're not writing that down."

"I'm not going to spying on any of you so I won't bother anymore. So what do you think of this place?"

"Fairly nice, though you seemed to be caught up with the five petaled lotus idea."

"That's just a coincidence. Some other bases have more or less than that. Which wing are you staying in?"

"This one. Not many people stay here so I can get my privacy." The base had five main wings with sleeping rooms attached to each one. The five wings came together to form the main room of the base. That was where meals were served and the exit was located. The five wings were a library, a lab, a bending area that had each element present, an expansive garden, and a rec room.

"This is where I normally stay to. I'd suggest you get and explore the place though. You never get bored in these bases." Rayk's voice was characteristic of a kid Christmas morning.

The rest of the day passed far less eventfully. Rayk spent most of the day in the lab with Sokka trying to devise ways to check out his abstract theories. Mai and Ty-Lee spent most of their time in library much to everyone's surprise. Mai apparently had taste for certain kinds of poetry and she spent the day trying to educate Zuko on it with some success. Suki, Haru and Toph remained in the garden just enjoying the peace until Toph got bored and left to join Aang and Katara in the rec room. There was a pai sho tournament in the evening like there always was and Sokka came in third despite being a novice.



Rayk went to his room after that and got ready for bed. He remembered the scroll that Azula had read and took it out to put it in his bag when curiosity overcame him. He opened it and wasn't all that surprised to find she'd written in it. What did surprise him was what she had written.

"According to this I've changed a lot. Thanks for the carrying me through the rough patch."

Rayk sat back on his bed dumbfounded for a moment. It was almost as if she liked him, but there was no way that could be. He had to admit that she had changed considerably, but she wouldn't know anything like that if burnt her on the nose. So what was the comment all about? He lay down and decided to think about it more the morning. The day had been a long one like he'd thought.

Instinct's Info: I'm definitely revising this chapter because it seemed way too rushed in some areas. PM or review the story of you want answers because I'm becoming very busy with other things and I wanted to get this up before hand.


	19. Couple of Couples

Instincts Info: I would like to apologize for the mix up. I loaded my rough for this chapter, that's why it seemed like I wasn't writing like I normally do. Thanks to Lady Ba Sing Se for pointing it out. Yes this chapter is supposed to do nothing more than advance the pairings because more than usual because I'm running out of time and need to return to the actual plot soon. Here's the actual chapter.

Chapter Eighteen:

Rayk woke up early and he was no more enlightened on Azula's bizarre comment than he had been when he'd gone to be the night before. He got out of bed and put on a set of clothes that were similar to Fong's. He still had the black pants, but the shirt was a default red and had the lotus on the either side of the collar, though it was small enough to be unnoticeable if you weren't looking for it. He went to the stone basin in the small bathroom adjoining his room to wash his face to shake away the sleep that was still clinging to him.

He came out of his room thoroughly awake but still no closer to what Azula had meant. The more he thought about it the more it annoyed him. He put it out of his head for a moment and went to get the actual time. There were little sundials and fires to help tell the time in each room, but the fire's timers couldn't always be trusted.

Rayk walked into the garden and looked up at the ceiling. It and the rec room where the only ones that had openings in them to the ground above them. There was a very thin beam of light shooting through the ceiling; it was early in the morning. Satisfied that his clock wasn't wrong he went to the room they'd arrived in. Breakfast wasn't even being served yet. He groaned in consternation and started to wander aimlessly through the complex, looking for someone that was up. He needed someone to talk to about Azula.

The absurdity of the idea struck him a moment later and he decided to confine himself to the library. He walked along the side and picked a book at random since he wasn't really going to read it. It was a mystery novel. Well, maybe later.

He sat down in the chair that Azula had moved yesterday without realizing it and propped the book up like he was reading it. Now to think how about how to approach the problem Azula had given him. Asking her directly would be suicide on the social level as well as the fact that she'd probably kill him. No she wouldn't, she might hurt him, but she wouldn't kill that many people anymore, him least of all.

Next was the problem of if she even realized the implications of what she'd wrote. Rayk had a hard time believing that she did or else she'd just come out and say it to him, most likely in a private place though. She had started to care about his most basic feelings at least at some point.

Rayk eventually came to the conclusions he'd have to allude to it somehow and see if she picked it up. If she did right away then he was right and she actually had more depth to her than he'd thought previously. If not he'd have to find a way to make whatever he 

said into something else. This was not going t be easy. He rubbed his temples in a vain attempt at getting an epiphany.

"Book getting to you?" Rayk jumped at hearing Zuko's voice.

"Not exactly. Hey, has your sister ever had a boyfriend?"

"No, she was too self absorbed to be near anyone. Father wouldn't let her anyway. Why, getting cold feet about the first?" Zuko couldn't resist the friendly jab.

"Maybe you weren't aware of what happened the first time we met," Rayk answered in the same tone, "But she tried to burn me alive."

"Maybe that's why no one ever tried to go out with her!" It was an obvious and bad joke but Zuko wanted to keep the conversation going.

"Go out with who?" Zuko and Rayk stood stock-still at her voice.

"Uh, I can smell breakfast, bye!" Zuko said the excuse so quickly that some of the words were slurred slightly, then he got out of there like his pants were on fire leaving Rayk with Azula.

Rayk decided to bite the bullet and try to get an answer to the problem that was perplexing him, "We were talking about how well done any of your past boyfriends were cooked. If it's all the same to you I prefer medium-rare." The joke was feeble, but it might be enough of a fall back to work.

Azula just stared at him for a while, almost making him squirm in his seat, "I think you'd do better with _well done_." He wasn't quite sure if that had been her answer or not. Talking strictly through subtext was a lot harder than he'd thought it'd been before.

He put on an asking expression and she responded, "Let me guess: you're amazed I know what it is that I implied on the scroll yesterday." Rayk sat there silently, thinking. He hadn't thought about what he would do if the implications were true. Finding the truth had posed a big enough problem for him. Now he was stymied.

Azula took the silence the wrong way, "You're lucky I take rejection better than I used to. Just so you feel better, I'm not entirely sure either." She still had the same condescending tone, but it was more of a habit than a 'want' now.

Rayk acted quickly to repair the damage, "No it's not that, I just never really about **us **like that, you know? Heck, I've never thought about anyone like that before. I need some time to get it in my head." Well, at least the message made sense now. If she wasn't sure she wouldn't have said anything openly because that could be seen as a weakness.



Azula looked at him quizzically before turning to go, "When you do I'll be at breakfast entertaining myself." Rayk had a suspicion that Zuko was going to have a bad breakfast. He sat there for a while trying to figure the whole thing, his own feelings for one thing. She'd been far more open about it then he'd thought, but she never went into anything unconfidently so that made sense in an awkward sort of way. Next came what he thought. He had to admit, he liked her company; she kept him on his toes. Still not feeling too sure of the whole thing Rayk finally decided on testing the waters.

--

Aang woke feeling woozy. He just knew it was from yesterday when he'd been drifting in and out of the avatar state. He got up and slipped on his clothes, grabbed his glider and went to do the one thing that was guaranteed to wake anyone up: flying around at high speed. If the adrenaline didn't wake you up the speed would plaster your eyes open.

He walked out of his room and into the rec room. No one seemed to be up yet and he continued on to the garden, which was the widest place in the complex. After a few laps he was wide-awake and came back down to earth. He walked into the main room where they'd come in yesterday. There were a few people in there now. Azula was apparently needling Zuko because he was yelling incoherently at regular intervals. Katara was sitting by herself and his heart started going like he was flying again.

He walked over, fully intending to sit beside her but stopped when he realized he didn't have his breakfast yet. A section of the stonewall had been removed to make room for a small buffet that was replenished intermittently by chefs working behind the wall. Aang picked up a tray and skipped over all the bacon and ham and other assorted meats. He loaded his tray with hash browns, an apple, and a few pancakes. Now that he had his meal he made his way to Katara's table and sat down.

"Hey." Yep, he was definitely felling suave today.

"Hey." She replied happily after cutting off a piece off her pancake.

Aang did the same and decided on a little flattery after he'd swallowed, "You know what? I like your cooking better."

"Thanks Aang, but I'm not making you anything. It's good to have someone else do the cooking for a change." Katara stopped looking at Aang for a second and eyes his apple, "Can I see that for a second?" Aang was curious, but he didn't ask, he just handed it to her.

She had an apprehensive look on her face but she held the apple like it was a ball and just stared at it for what seemed like a whole minute. She waved a hand in front of it and the apple fell into quarters.

"How did you do that?" She turned one of the quarters towards him; it was covered by a thin sheet of ice.



"I've been thinking about how Rayk said the ability I have is too good to waste. There's no way I'll ever use it on people, but I can practice it on things like this." She was still a little paler than usual at trying it.

Aang was still mystified, "But how did you make it do that?"

"I froze the water along the quarters and made it break." She answered simply, "Being able to bend plants is still really useful. Remember Hue?" Aang groaned. She meant the philosopher from the swamp that had tried to scare them as a plant monster.

"I'M TELLING YOU I HAVEN'T SLEPT WITH MAI!!" Zuko yelled at the top of his voice. He seemed to realize what he said and started blushing madly and hit his head on the table before just collapsing on it. Azula got up from the table and walked away laughing quite hard.

Aang started to feel uncomfortable, "You want to,"

"Go?" Katara finished for him and he nodded. They picked up their trays and started to walk out of the room along with many of the others which only cause Zuko to fume more.

Mai walked in to the main room for breakfast and yawned. She saw Zuko sitting at a table with a thing line of smoke escaping from his head that was still on the table.

"You know she does that to you intentionally."

"You think I don't know that! She's just, arrghh!" Zuko let wisps of fire come out of his hands in frustration.

"If you don't let it bother you she'll stop doing that. Besides, we haven't been together for too long anyway." The tone of her voice changed a little near the end there, what had it been mocking? No, what was it? Zuko couldn't contemplate it anymore because she closed in for a kiss.

--

Aang and Katara had carried their breakfast out to the garden and were sitting close together against one of the trees that the garden housed. There wasn't a conversation going on. They were just eating, enjoying each other's company.

"_Now if only she realized what that could mean._" Aang thought ruefully.

Instead, he chickened out again and tried a different topic, "So, uh, how do you bend plants exactly?"

Katara was slightly startled at the break of the silence, "What? Oh no, you're not learning how to do that."



"We're going to be attacking the capital soon. I want to be able to protect everyone when that comes because I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to you…" Whoops, that wasn't what he'd meant to say.

Katara appeared to have missed what he'd said for a moment then noticed, "Aang did you just say…?" He started to blush madly. Her mind started to put the pieces together at an alarming rate. The odd looks when they'd released him from the ice berg, him having the same slight obsession with Aunt Wu, their path through the Cave of Two lovers. He managed to smile at her meekly despite his blush and she returned it with a more enlightened one, albeit with watery eyes. They threw their arms around each other in a hug. Slowly their heads came apart enough for them to move and face each other. The small gap between them was starting to shrink as their lips came closer together.

It was unfortunate to note that they hadn't gone very far into the garden and it was at this particular moment that Sokka walked by and glanced in with Rayk close behind him.

"Katara! What are," Sokka started to yell in surprise. Rayk hadn't even glanced in and swiftly cuffed Sokka over the head, knocking him out for a moment.

He waved over his shoulder as he dragged the unconscious Sokka away, "Carry on." He hadn't looked in once. He seemed to know what was happening anyway

Aang both looked at each other, still blushing somewhat, and let out a few laughs. Rayk hadn't broken stride as he walked past. They recovered quickly and started back into what they'd been doing.

--

Sokka woke up a little groggy and heard talking around him, "I trust you with absolute confidence that you won't tell anyone about whatever you hear from him." A pause then, "Or me for that matter."

"Sure thing!" He groaned, Ty-Lee's presence meant more flirting, despite Rayk being there.

Rayk started to speak again, "He's coming around now. Please." Sokka had his vision back and saw Rayk wave politely toward him. Sokka was punched in a few different places and found he couldn't move his arms or legs. He was leaning up against a wall so that he wouldn't fall over.

It was then that his memory came rushing at him, "What the heck were they doing!?" Sokka continued into a long tirade lasting minutes. Rayk sat on the bad with Ty-Lee, who was watching Sokka with her head tilted to one side like a curious puppy. Rayk was whistling no particular tune as he waited for Sokka to finish.



Sokka paused for a breath and Rayk interjected, "Sokka, think about what you're saying and who you're saying it about." Rayk's voice was firm and advised thinking before talking.

Sokka seemed to disregard this for a second then closed his mouth and acquired a defeated look.

"Are you good now?" Sokka nodded solemnly. Rayk added almost as an afterthought, "What were you doing there anyways? Your room's near the lab." Sokka's eyes darted left and right in hopes of finding an excuse.

"You were looking for Toph, weren't you?"

"No! Don't be silly! What makes you think I was looking for her?" His voice oozed panic.

Ty-Lee started to pout, "How many girlfriends do you have? Why can't I be one?" This made Rayk and Sokka stare at her in disbelief.

Rayk snapped out of it and returned to Sokka, "If it's any consolation, she likes you to."

"She does?" His voice was excited the he tried to cover it, "I mean, sure why shouldn't she? I'm a great guy." Sokka refused to give up the illusion that he didn't like her even though it was very obvious.

Rayk looked at him with an amused expression on his face, "You should be able to move now. Just don't freak when you see your sister or Aang next time, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks for stopping me." Sokka got up on shaky legs and walked out. Rayk had to hold up an arm to stop Ty-Lee from running after him.

--

--

Instincts Info: I got dragged away for a short 'vacation' (aka: helping my grandma with her garden all weekend) before I could upload the right one. In any case, this chapter shows that my selection of genres may be out of whack. It isn't. Those two are the closest two to the story's nature. I wrote this so that there are numerous different genres present and not just behind the scenes. Besides, these are all needed later, some sooner than others. Hope you like it and please tell me because it still doesn't feel quite right.


	20. The Face Stealer

Instincts Info: Okay back to the main plot…sort of

Instincts Info: Okay back to the main plot…sort of. I realize that the pairings pose some problems and I'll be clearing those up if I can (SukiXSokkaXToph thing). I'll also be addressing the origins of some of the groups in my other two books as well as starting back onto the main plot. Yeah, this is a busy chapter.

Chapter Twenty: The Face Stealer

Long-Feng sat in the back of his cell with his teeth chattering. It was freezing in his cell and he knew it was just his, it had to be, he couldn't hear anyone else's teeth chattering. It also couldn't help that the guards regularly 'forgot' to bring his food. Azula had done everything to anger them yet he bore the brunt of their hate for his small. He was so hungry right now he would eat anything.

It was then that the small crack of light that came through the door was interrupted. A small centipede had crawled through the crack and was snaking it's way across the floor towards. Long-Feng didn't hesitate. He dove for the centipede and grabbed its leg. His arms didn't even fit around it.

He stumbled back against his cell wall. As soon as he'd lunged for the thing it was like it had expanded without him noticing. Now the centipede's giant form was hanging over him. He tried to look at the door: exactly as it had been so he hadn't shrunk.

His head slowly came up to look at the giant bug's face, probably all too ready to make mince meat of him. What he saw though defied explanation. There wasn't a bug's face there at all. It looked like the head had been cut off completely and a new face, slightly to small for the body placed on instead. The painted face stared placidly back at him, boring him into the ground.

"I can help you regain what you've lost." The voice had most definitely come from the giant bug, but it wasn't female like the face implied. It had a wispy quality to it that made his skin crawl.

"I can make all your plans succeed and ensure your freedom and ruling of this city." It was at this point that Long-Feng stopped caring if he was hallucinating or not. Anything but the confines of this cell for another moment.

"How will you help me?" His voice had regained the assertive tone he'd lost when he was thrown in here.

"My dear _man_," There was something about the way it said man that unnerved him, "I am not of this world. Your earthly limitations do not apply to me. I can slip through walls and whisper in people's minds when they are asleep. Your plans would be all too easy to fulfill."

"Then help me and I will share it with you." He, of course, had absolutely no intention of that.

"But we must have an equal exchange for this deal to work. I need someone to help me stay here. You will be the anchor which will allow me safe passage between our worlds."

That didn't sound to bad, and all too easy to break, "Very well. We have an accord." Koh's (you should have figured it out by now) eyes glinted evilly in the little light that was present. His giant form reared up and expanded to fill the entire cell. Long-Feng huddled against the wall, trying not to be crushed.

Koh's face flashed down to fill his vision, then the spirit was gone the cell empty except for Long-Feng's body. He stood up with shaky knees and scanned around the cell suspiciously. Then his arm moved of its own accord. He stumbled back in shock and raised it in horror at what was happening to it. His skin was crawling, _literally_. The skin was moving on his arm to grow bulkier in some places and growing taught until he was sure it was going to rip.

Then he heard a little voice in his head, the same wispy one that Koh had used, "Don't mind what I'm doing, I'm merely reshaping your body to fit me better. Oh now what are you thinking? We can't have that. This is the first body in my collection and you won't ruin it.

There was a scream that echoed through the entire wing of the prison that attracted many of the guards. Within minutes there was a score of them outside of Long-Feng's cell. The other prisoners had only been too willing to offer up the identity of the screamer. The door to the cell was thrown open and the light poured in to illuminate the still body lying against the far wall in a way that wasn't normal. One of the guards stepped forward and felt for his pulse. There wasn't one.

"Someone go get a body bag." He ordered to one of the others near the back of the group. He turned and walked out of the cell, but something made him turn back, a prickly feeling on the back of his neck. Long-Feng's body had risen off the floor and was smirking with devilish delight. The body let out an unearthly laugh and launched forward. The guard was smashed into the wall by the centipede's giant body and continued through the walls with it until the centipede suddenly disappeared and his still form was left in the cell of a small time thief who stared at it in surprise before running out of the prison to join the growing throng of convicts.

--

Sokka was back in the lab working on one the apparatus he had going to help him prove some of his ideas. His heart wasn't in it though, heck his head barely was. How was it possible for him to like Suki and Toph? He knew there shouldn't be a way for it to be possible (Sokka the polygamist just doesn't ring you know?), and there was no way either of them was going to get if he didn't himself.

Tired of hating his complexities he tried to push the problem from his mind and succeeded enough to be able to concentrate on the thing on front of him. It had been a box when he'd started. Now it was made of glass and had a hose with a nozzle at the end he was holding so it could be closed. There was also a second box on top of the first, which contained a none-too-pleased hornet-ant. He'd also gone to great lengths to make sure the whole thing was airtight. He checked it over for good measure and concluded he was ready to test it. He went to go find Aang.

Aang was still reveling that he'd finally told Katara his feelings; even if he hadn't said all that much and it had been largely accidental. He was still cruising around the garden, wishing his happiness could condense into a cloud to lie on. Katara was feeling the same way and was drifting around the small pond that was in the garden in sheer bliss. They were unwittingly placed over each other the entire time.

Sokka walked in so he could call Aang, completely forgetting what he'd been like the last time he'd been near them, "Hey Aang! Come down here for a second! I need to talk to you!" Aang froze in mid flight; Katara actually froze some of the water unwittingly.

She waded out of the water and dried herself with a wave of her hands and Aang landed beside her a tad clumsily; he was nervous and it showed.

Sokka was about to start when Katara cut him off, "Sokka, I like Aang so stop trying to be over protective and,"

Sokka interjected, "Calm down. Rayk straightened me out and I'm okay with it. I didn't come here for anything like that, unless you want to help me get rid of Ty-Lee, she's driving me crazy! She won't stop flirting no matter what I do!"

"Why don't you just tell her you don't like her?" Aang stated the obvious approach, which made Sokka realize he hadn't tried it yet.

"Thanks, I'll try that. That's not the reason I came here though. I need your help with an experiment of mine. If I'm right the Fire Lord won't be a problem at all."

This made Aang perk up, "What is it?"

"I need you to make a vacuum, a complete vacuum. There can't be anything there."

"Sokka, I can already do that. Most air benders could make a vacuum; we just couldn't hold it for very long. I'd have to bend my element out which is really hard to do."

"I can make a bubble and make an opening in water, why can't you do that with air?" Katara asked curiously.

"You're still bending your element into the shape you want when you do that. Try just pushing it out completely and keeping that form. It's way harder."

"Could you two talk about the finer points of bending some other time?" It was obvious that Sokka was impatient to test out his hypothesis.

--

A few minutes later and they were back in the lab that Sokka had splayed his work out in. There were plans scattered across the room that would have been impossible for anyone else to decipher and pieces of what could only be described as things placed at random places in the room as Sokka had though of them.

Sokka picked up the hose of his box and handed it to Aang, "Fortunately I already had to make this thing airtight so you just have to get everything out of there."

Katara had given the box a once over and was looking at it with a speculative look, "What are going to prove with this exactly?"

"Glad you asked that. I figured that since Aang can blow people backward with a gust of wind he could the opposite and suck someone towards something!"

"Wow, that's really smart Sokka." Aang said and Sokka waved him down in a show of mock modesty.

"Okay, let's see what I can do." Aang picked up the hose again and a mild breeze was felt through the room. Sokka flicked one of the box's switches and a metal plate with rubber fell down and sealed the hole that the hose came from. Sokka got a sparkle in his eye and flicked the second switch and the hornet-ant buzzed into the box of it's own accord.

Sokka stood back in thought and decided a little trickery was needed, "Guess I was wrong. Aang could you put the hornet-ant back in the box on top, thanks." He waited with baited breath and Aang blew the hornet-ant back into the box, "Hah! You didn't get everything out of there!"

Aang stopped to think about it for a second, "Guess I didn't. That should have been a vacuum though. I don't what I normally do."

"That's because if another of my theories is right there are different parts to air. I haven't got around to making a way of testing it yet. You only ever take out the part that we need to breath. Try it again and really concentrate."

Aang believed what Sokka was saying completely so he did as he was bid and took the seal off the box.

"Sokka, hate to break it to you, but your little friend there is dead." Katara pointed to the box on top, which was silent compared to before when you could hear the buzzing.

Sokka was slightly disappointed, "Well, it didn't really need to be alive, but to suffocate would be a bad way to go. If Aang is able to make a complete vacuum this should still work since it'll be thrown into the box because of it."

He motioned and Aang to try again and there was more of a breeze this time. Sokka sealed it and looked at Aang's hand. What looked like a hicky the size of the hose was on his hand. Sokka didn't know what that meant exactly, but it was probably good.

Sokka flipped the switch to release the bug and its guts splattered the box walls. They all jumped back in surprise.

"I did **not** see that coming." Sokka said with a shocked voice, still staring wide eyes at the box.

"What did I do?" Aang was shaking slightly. Katara put her arms around him for comfort.

Sokka slowly regained his composure, "I didn't think air had that much to do with us. I'm going to have to look into this, but it looks like there's enough air around us that it's pushing on us. Our bodies push out to combat that. Take away the air though…and you get that." He motioned to the box with the guts leaving streaks down the glass.

--

Aang went into the bending area for his lessons a short while after the big incident. Zuko Katara and Toph were all there, ready to give him a thorough grounding in their respective elements. Aang's teachers had consorted at some point without him knowing and started him on to a grueling combat practice, which had him face down all of them at once.

The sparring got to the point where it started attracting a crowd. Azula was near the front with an expression on her face that was as close to impressed as she was ever going to get. Rayk was beside her with genuine amazement. Needless to say the fighting was extremely intense.

The fight wore out Aang quickly and he eventually caved when only Katara was left. He hadn't been going easy on her, but she just refused to go down. He'd blown Toph off her feat and kept her that way until she submitted. He used the less creative approach on Zuko of just pummeling him with blasts of every element until he was pounded into the wall. He had tried the same approach for Katara, but she had either evaded or blocked them. She'd even managed to turn some of the back on him.

Aang almost had to be carried out of them room afterwards. Seeing that the entertainment was over most of the crowd left. The fight had filled Sokka with energy though and he started to practice with the Crescent Blades. He read through the scrolls again on the Blue Moon and Full Moon forms.

Next he started to practice the Full Moon. He hadn't lost his skill at all despite having not having practiced in quite a while. Mai and Ty-Lee came in and started to practice. He considered practicing with them but decided against it. Ty-Lee was out of the question for obvious reasons. He was leery about Mai as well since she was going to be practicing getting through the blades, which Sokka didn't want to risk.

Mai left after a little while with Zuko, which left Sokka alone with Ty-Lee. This was not what he wanted, but exactly she was.

She didn't waste any time, "Hey there Snoozles."

Sokka grimaced, "It's bad enough when Toph says that okay?" He took a deep breath and steadied himself before he continued, "Look, Ty-Lee, I don't know how else to say this to you."

She refused to see the fall coming, "You're ready to admit that you like me?"

Sokka stifled a groan, "No that's not it. It's the opposite actually. Your nice and your _always_ happy, but I just can't handle that."

Tears sprung to her eyes. Sokka just groaned; he'd been afraid that this would happen.

"What do those other two have that I don't?" She was crying openly. Suddenly she got a sneaky look in her eyes and her arms flew out. Sokka couldn't have done anything if he'd wanted to. Instead he was laying one the ground unable to move a single part of his body.

Ty-Lee crouched down beside him. It was moments after that that Sokka's blood ran cold. She was leaning down towards him.

'She thinks I like them because they're good kissers!?' he thought horrified, 'Suki is pretty good at it though. Back to the present Snoozles!' he reminded himself, 'Great, now I'm calling myself that! Bah! Concentrate, how are you going to get out of this?'

He was struggling to move any part of himself now to distract her before she got any closer. It didn't work and she planted one on him. Moments after this the spirits settled on placing most of the misfortune that world had on Sokka: Suki walked in.

She didn't move when she saw them, just stared with a blank expression, not comprehending.

It sunk in a moment later, "You've got three second to run." She said it just loud enough for Ty-Lee to hear in a voice as icy as Azula used to be. Ty-Lee broke the kiss and looked up.

It was a little too late though. Suki was already closing the distance and by the time Ty-Lee stood up Suki had an uppercut plastered to her chin. Ty-Lee seemed to flow with the punch and sprang backwards, pursued straight away by Suki.

Suki drew her fist back and threw it at Sokka's assaulter. Ty-Lee caught her fist and the other that was thrown a second later. Ty-Lee gave a girlish grin before bodily flinging Suki through the air in an attempt to throw her into the ground. It didn't work because when Ty-Lee let go she found Suki still holding with a scowl dominating her face.

"You're not the only flexible one." She said her voice barely controlled. She didn't bother to copy Ty-Lee and let go before she could figure out what was going on. Ty-Lee sailed through the air to crash into one of the walls mid flight. She stayed on the ground moaning as Suki advanced on her.

"Suki, please stop!" Sokka yelled. She turned around to face him and saw that he'd actually gotten to his feet. Sokka hadn't noticed that he'd done this. It'd been subconscious.

"You could move the entire time!?" Suki abandoned her advance on Ty-Lee and started towards Sokka but stopped, she was undecided which one she wanted to kill more.

The room seemed to grow darker for a second a breeze blew through it. A second later Rayk stuck his head into the room.

"Iroh's here if anyone's wondering. Sokka that means you're presence is required now." He stopped and seemed to sense the feel the room had before he continued, "You two can continue the cat fight if you want. You're not needed right now so feel free." He left without waiting for a response.

Sokka started towards the door dejectedly but stopped halfway, "Suki, I'm sorry. This was a horrible bunch of mistakes. I talk to you about it as soon as I can." She glared at him for a second longer then left in a huff. When she got near the door out she started to cry and it made Sokka feel even worse if that were possible.

--

Instincts Info: Just so you know the chapter's name applies to the second part of the chapter with the Ty-Lee kiss. She sort of stole Sokka's face. Just thought I'd point tha out, found it kinda funny. Tell me if Suki's OOC here. There's not much on her so it's hard to stay in character with her. That's why you don't here much from her. Anyway please review and I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP so you can read about everyone's favorite fire bender: IROH!


	21. Fanatic's Birth

Instincts Info: I don't own ATLA and please review. I have plenty of people adding the story and I'm thankful, but no reviews are coming in! I would really appreciate them!

Chapter Twenty-One: Birth of the Fanatic

Approximately 2 Weeks Earlier

Jet's mind came out of the muddied mess that his head had become. He knew whose side he was on now. He looked up at Long-Feng with a hate filled stare and threw one of his swords as hard as he could at him. Long-Feng moved and it missed. He saw him make a movement and, almost in slow motion, saw the ground come up to meet his chest.

Jet seemed to get a detached viewpoint of the situation. He saw himself fly into the air. He felt his bone's splinter against the rock; he even felt some of them enter his organs on the other side of his rib cage. He hit the ground and the world rushed back to him. Endorphins were pumping through him because he found he could still use that brave grin that had won over Katara when he'd first met her.

Her hands glowed and he felt the cool water on his chest; he knew it was useless though. He heard the earth bender confirm it. Many of the sad faces around him disappeared to go after Long-Feng. Only Smellerbee and Longshot stayed beside him.

--

Longshot and Smellerbee placed Jet's body on the little raft with reverence and pushed it out into Lake Laogi. When it was far enough away a flaming arrow was shot and it turned the raft into a funeral pyre. The pair watched it until it sank beneath the water.

Jet came to at the bottom of the lake. Strangely, he didn't need to breath. There also seemed to be light coming from somewhere around him, though whenever he tried to locate it, the source moved.

Just when he was getting a little annoyed a cloaked figure emerged from the gloom. The hood had such an overhang he could barely see any part of the face at all. All he could see was a big nose, slightly hooked, that was halfway between what the color of skin should be and purple.

"You are Jet?" The voice was higher than he would have expected, and sing-songy, giving it a spooky quality.

"And who are you?" The voice was more than enough to make Jet suspicious.

"I'm known by many unfortunate names. Syh-Shen, The Life Thief, the Ravenous Shadow, even Death. But all these are pessimistic names. I prefer the name the Air Nomads gave me: The Caretaker. People see life as finite and fear it's end. I'm here to guide you back to your source so that all the dirt the world has caked on to you can be cleaned away and hung back on the canvas of the world.

"But you were a great human and there are no great repeats. It's such a shame that your body gave out long before your mind or spirit did." It was said with a wistful longing that filled Jet with the same emotion.

A decrepit looking hand came up and started to move where the chin should be; to represent thinking, "I could give you a second chance you know. Just, it couldn't the body you had a little while ago. That's in no state to function. The only problem is that you would have to cooperate with me."

Jet was more than a little mystified, "Why give me a second chance? You can't give this to everyone, you shouldn't even be able to do this at all."

Syh-Shen recoiled slightly, "It is an odd fact of this world that no one here knows how we spirits came to be. If you did then you would realize why I'm able to do this. Would you like to know?"

Jet stared at the figure for a long time before nodding, "Well then, where to start? Best be at the very beginning. In the very beginning there were two worlds, separated by a great gulf. Both worlds had massive amounts of spiritual energy in them. One was a mostly barren place where its inhabitants had to struggle to get anything. The other was plentiful where fruit hung ready on trees and there was water everywhere. This is your world.

"The other world's people learned to harness their spiritual power and used it to subjugate their home to do whatever they pleased. Your world became lax and their power became latent. Eventually, your group came to realize that there were others out there other than themselves. They reached out across the gulf and a bridge was formed between the two worlds with a massive discharge of spiritual energy from the other side.

"Seeing how luscious your world was they longer to live in it. They had lived in the bareness of what they'd been given for so long it was impossible not to. Your people were greedy though. They said there were too many from the other world to live here with them. They initiated a war.

"The other group quickly became dominant because they were far more advanced because of the advances in controlling their spiritual energy. Then your latent power surfaced and took the form of your beliefs, which was in spirits representing things across your world.

"This is where we came from. We did what you thought we would do and drove back the others across the gap then sealed it. You grew to fear some of us and because of that our forms changed to reflect what you thought. In other words: the only reason your world is our playground is because that is what you think it is. Some people are hopeful that I would give them a second chance and I'm giving that option to you."

"Why me though?" Jet still wasn't sure he could trust the spirit. Everything seemed too convenient.

"You are charismatic and the world about to change dramatically. Depending on where I place you your impact could be very wide spread."

"I'll agree if you can tell me how this benefits you."

"I've seen eons go by with the other world never resting in its attempts to break back into your world. I've realized that at the current rate there will come a time when they will break through and we won't be able to stop them. I seek to alleviate this. Depending on your actions the world could be led in a direction that will allow you to stop their advance. Do you agree?"

"I do, but how,"

"Excellent! You'll be placed in you new body momentarily." The cloaked figure disappeared. Jet felt a slight rush and felt himself being compressed. His eyes came open and he was in a room that stunk of incense. Syh-Shen's cloaked form was standing in the corner of the small room.

"Who am I?" Jet asked in a voice that wasn't his own.

"You are a preacher of one of the larger sects of Omashu."

"How do I lead the world in the right direction?"

"Hannya, the spirit of Wisdom, prevents me from telling you that. But I can whisper it in your ear."

"Why is that any different?"

"You would accept it without thinking. Since you would undoubtedly accept it anyway I can see no harm in it." He leaned over and Jet nodded confirmation, "You will preach to the masses that the Fire Nation must be demolished and it's population decimated. You will wait as your following grows and take the throne of Omashu once it has been reclaimed from the Fire Nation and the Avatar's group has left for good. Then you will take the throne and spread your word to Ba-Sing-Se. From there you will raise an army to exterminate the Fire Nation and the Avatar and his friends.

"Then you will wait and strike when the opportunity arises at the Water Tribes. Once the world is under a single banner strengthen your religion and collect bodies for me for they will give me the strength I need to join this world with the other and ensure that there can be no deviance to war any longer." Syh-Shen went on until he'd finished his whole plan. Everything was accounted for and Jet was now the first human inducted into his new order.

Syh-Shen took a step back to view his handiwork. Jet's mind was string after his ordeal against Long-Feng and his mind games. He was sweating profusely and his eyes were wild, trying to fight the message that was worming through his mind. He yelled in a hoarse voice once, and then stopped.

"It will be as you say my _lord_."

--

Instincts Info: That give you goose bumps? It's what I was aiming for. Be kind in your reviews, I know the end could get a bit touchy in some people's minds. With this chapter you have all the pieces you need to put together the puzzle that's given in the rest of the series. Seriously though, review this chapter if you review any of them. I really want to know what you think of it.


	22. Iroh's Return

Instincts Info: Okay, back to the main plot. The last chapter was supposed to be part of this one but it got too long. The two would parts would wreck the feeling of both though don't you think? Anyway, I don't ATLA and please review!

Chapter Twenty-Two: Iroh's Return

Iroh came out of the jump and took off his blindfold. The tables had been removed from the center of the room, but there wasn't anything ostentatious changed about the room. He wouldn't have liked that anyway, so they wouldn't even think of it. Slowly a column of people started to enter the room.

At the front was anyone in the compound that had a higher ranking than Captain. They were required to be present so they could give any relevant information on Rien's failed plan. Rayk wasn't technically part of that section of White Lotus though, so he was off to the side during the proceedings, waiting for the crowd to disperse so he could introduce Sokka to Iroh properly.

The whole thing didn't take too long and Rien was carted away with a livid face. Rayk disregarded the look when it was focused on him and brought Sokka in. Rayk was fully intending to simply get through the introductions then leave so Iroh couldn't start into the whole frontline thing again.

"Grandmaster Iroh, this Sokka. Our newest inductee to the Order of the White Lotus." Rayk turned to go since his job was technically done now.

Iroh would have none of that, "Rayk you need to let those memories go. You can't change the past, but you can affect the future."

Rayk answered a bit harsher than he meant to, "Look, I know that. To actually make it happen is something else entirely though. You might be able to forgive yourself for past mistakes but that was scarring. Knowing that your father might very well have wanted you dead does a lot of damage!"

"No, your problem is that you still hold your father in reverence whether you admit it or not. Until you face the fact that he's beyond redemption because of what he did you aren't going to be able to do anything." He turned to Sokka for a moment, "Sorry, I've been working with him for a while on this." Sokka held up his hands to show that he didn't mind. He sat down on the floor and started to draw designs in the dust that he'd use later.

"That's just it. I realized that a little before you came here. As soon as I did though I find out that something happened that makes me thing no one is beyond redemption."

Iroh squinted at him suspiciously, "You mean that Azula…?"

It was at this point that Azula came in, "Hello uncle." She had a smirk on her face that made Rayk a little uneasy. She walked up beside Rayk and through an arm around him. Sokka's jaw dropped to the floor and one of his eyes started twitching.

Iroh was just as flabbergasted, "What happened on that trip?" Iroh asked, almost incredulously.

"Rayk was the first person to be kind to me, genuinely I mean." Azula replied calmly. Rayk just shrugged as if t say it was nothing.

"Wait, how did _none_ of us notice this?" Sokka was gesturing wildly to get his point across.

"Look, I'll tell you later. In the mean time, we have some business to resolve. Grandmaster, I assume you're here about the plan for your home?"

"Rayk, I've told you before: don't use the title, and yes that's why I'm here. The Echelon would like Sokka's input on it as well as yours."

"So you don't have the details all planned out?" Sokka asked slightly nervous.

"We don't have the details of the details planned out." Iroh corrected him, "That meeting isn't until the end of the day so I can catch up with the rest of you."

"You just want to hang around for lunch don't you?" Rayk asked jokingly.

"There's supposed to be roast duck!" Iroh answered and let out a small chuckle.

--

Aang and the others came rushing once they were told that the impromptu meeting was over. Zuko was only a step behind them and almost threw himself on the floor as he tried to apologize to Iroh. The others didn't notice this and unintentionally stood in front of him. It was because of this that Iroh didn't notice him at first.

Zuko was a little irked by this and stepped to the front to try again, but was still ignored because Iroh had already been hijacked by Aang and Sokka going on about some experiment they'd done.

Iroh went off with them a moment later and he seemed genuinely interested in what they'd been saying. Zuko insides turned a little. From the looks of things he didn't have much time and if Iroh was this preoccupied the entire time he'd never to get to apologize for what he'd done.

Suki came out of the small gathering, "Waiting for someone to remember you?" It was said like she was doing the same thing.

Rayk came up beside them a moment later, "You both have grounds to be around them so what's stopping you. What they're talking about might interest you." He waited for a moment, studying their reactions, "Oh, the chances of them being on their own aren't good. Sorry, you're going to have to make an opening for them. Good luck with that!" He added cheerfully and walked back in the direction of the library.

Suki started to walk in the direction of the lab. Zuko stayed put. It'd be rude to make someone pay attention to you just so you could apologize. Besides he couldn't have forgot about him, could he?

--

Suki opened the door to the lab a little more forcefully than she normally would and let out a little scream. Iroh had loosed a fire blast in the general direction of the door. It seemed to hit a wall and disappeared through a seemingly invisible wall.

"Woo!! I can't wait 'till the Fire Lord tries to bend and it disappears! He's going to freak!" Sokka was jumping from the different tabletops and doing what he probably considered a dance while he jumped.

He spun in the air during one jump and noticed Suki. He tripped over something when he landed and fell off the table with a quite a few of his creations.

Iroh saw her as well and made a welcoming gesture, "I'm very sorry. The door should've been locked." He turned to Sokka who tried to rise and tripped over something he'd brought onto the floor, "My brother can use lightening too, so it might be wise to not even use that technique."

Sokka raised a finger to show he'd be done in a minute then turned to ask Iroh something, "Yeah, I was thinking about that. Could you teach Aang how to use lightning? That'd get rid of the problem. Eh, excuse me, I gotta go." He turned and started to walk to Suki with a pained expression on his face.

"What'd he do to get in that kind of trouble?" Iroh jerked a thumb over his shoulder at Sokka's back. Aang shrugged to show he didn't know.

"Well, hope he survives. There are very few things in this world worse than a woman's wrath." Iroh gave a good-natured laugh, which made Aang smile.

Iroh became a little more solemn a moment later, "Hmm, could I teach you how to use lightning. How far are you along with fire bending? I can't teach you something that outstrips your current level by something titanic."

"Zuko's been teaching me to master the basics. He said that I've mastered them yesterday and that I could move on to the advanced sets."

Iroh sighed a little, "That's not far along enough. I do have something that can help though. I taught this technique to Zuko too so he could help you practice. It lets you redirect the lightning's path." Iroh continued to explain the minutiae of the technique.

--

Once Zuko and Iroh had grilled the motions of the technique into Aang and he was off to the side of the bending area Zuko decided this was the best opportunity he was going to get, "Uncle?" He went down on his knees and lowered his head to the ground, "I want to apologize for betraying you. I beg your forgiveness."

"You would be no matter what choice you made that day. All you have to do is find the silver lining of your choice. You made your decision to come here on you own without me or Azula trying to sway you. No harm done." Zuko was a little dejected at the fact there wasn't any actual forgiveness, though he could tell that he was forgiven.

Zuko remained dejected until Iroh spoke again, "The experiences you had on your journey here most likely gave you the experience that you need. I think we're ready to resume your training. Do you remember the forms for guiding lightning?"

Zuko was ecstatic but reined it in before he responded, "Yes I am." He took as deep a breath as he could and drew up the forms of the technique in his head. Zuko let his body go through the forms on its own, all his concentration was focused on separating the positive and negative energies in his body.

The motions were flawless and he sent the two sides crashing together and he was blown off his feet by the explosion. Rayk stuck his head in the door at the sound of the explosion.

"You still need to forgive yourself for your choice in the Crystal Catacombs. That is the only thing holding you back." Zuko closed his eyes and slowly his face took on the shape of absolute peace. He started again and everything around him seemed to stop. Iroh and Rayk were looking at him critically and Aang was staring at him slightly in awe.

He went through the whole thing again and this time he heard the crackling. Lightning shot from his fingers and made a crater in the wall at the end of the room.

"And one more person surpasses me." Rayk muttered forlornly before continuing, "Iroh, we should be going shortly."

"My clock was off, wasn't it?"

"No, this just came in. Change of assignment." Rayk brought a scroll out of his sleeve and handed it to Iroh.

Iroh face became creased as he read it, "This isn't good. How did we miss a guy like this?"

"No one knows anything about him. You have any idea how to deal with him?"

"We can only talk to him. We can use the image of us pulling strings behind the scenes. That'll sate him long enough to find out if he's planning anything and stop it if he is."

"Good, but we're going to have to leave some of us here. He's not going to buy anything from us if we show up with a bunch of Fire Nation notables in tow. Zuko, Mai, Ty-Lee, and Azula are going to have to stay behind."

"What about me?"

"We've circulated rumors about you're ejection from the military enough for it to be safe move to bring you."

"What is it this time?"

"You saw the true nature of war at Ba-Sing-Se and voiced an opinion when you returned. You were kicked out after that in a state of disgrace. Before you say it I know it would've been helpful a little while ago, but people are slow to accept things contrary to their image of somebody."

Iroh gave him a sidelong grin and went to tell Aang and Zuko what was going on. Rayk left to tell the others what was going to be happening and how to prepare.

--

Within half an hour there was a group of fifteen people standing in the center of the mess hall that once again had its tables placed against the side of the room. Aang and Toph had been given special treatment to make the trip less dangerous for them. Aang was given a small sedative and Sokka was holding Toph so there wouldn't be a repeat of last time. Suki was giving Sokka a heated stare from beside him, which he didn't seem to notice. Katara, Haru, Rayk and Iroh stood interspersed with the seven other members of White Lotus that were coming with them.

Though it was unintentional, they all tied their blindfolds onto their faces at the same time. Katara stood like that for what seemed like forever, expecting to hear something or feeling something change in her surroundings. Instead, she stood there, feeling slightly stupid until someone tapped her on the shoulder telling her she could take the blindfold off now.

She did and she saw that they were standing in a flower shop. Iroh graciously held the small door on one side of the room for all of them and they filed out. There was a short walk through Omashu until they came to a large building that they knew hadn't been there before. It had a high stone roof with pillars supporting the roof. Carved into the stonewall of the building were pictures that they assumed pertained to the use of the building.

One was a cloaked figure with shadow obscuring the top of the face. He was smiling at holding his hands out in benediction towards a crowd of scared people that were looking hopefully at him. The second was the same figure leading the people against a great flame that looked to be flickering away in fear. No guess was needed to see what was taught here.

The group entered the building with slight apprehension. Iroh came to the front of the group to talk to the small man in a gray robe that came out of a side room to greet them.

"We have a scheduled audience with Lanorit."

"You mean His Benevolence Lanorit." The man retorted indignantly, "He will see you after his sermon. It will be starting in ten minutes. You are welcome to attend and be shown the path of radiance." He finished with a far off look in his eyes.

"Shall we?" Iroh asked them.

Most of them shrugged their shoulders but Rayk spoke up, "I'd like to know exactly who were talking to here. I say we go." No one had any objections so they filed in where they were met yet another robed person.

"Lanorit had blessed you by reserving places for you at the front." The diminutive man didn't wait and shuffled his way through the growing mass of people and stopped a short distance from a podium.

They all stood there waiting for whatever was supposed to happen, not that any of them actually knew. Less than ten minutes later a person emerged from a small set of curtains behind the podium. Sokka's jaw dropped at the sight. Aang and Katara drew in breath in unison.

"What are you guys so impressed with?" Toph asked indignantly, then started again, "You've got to be kidding! Isn't he supposed to be dead?!" No one answered. They all stared at the older looking Jet standing in front of them.

--

Instincts Info: Hope you liked cause this is where things start getting interesting! Please review. Someone found a mistake in a chapter a while ago so this aint perfect and I know it! Please let me know what you think!


	23. The Paradox Problem

Instinct' Info: So, nothing but the normal to put here

Instinct' Info: So, nothing but the normal to put here. I don't own ATLA and please review. Can't exactly complain about the number since it had been increasing and you have no idea how thankful I am for it. You can never have too many though. Oh yes, and READ Book Five: Cinder. You'll get way out of the coming chapters if you do, especially starting with this one. Muhuhuhuhu…

Chapter Twenty-Three: Deviance

The whole group from White Lotus sat where they were. The less controlled ones had their mouths slightly agape. Jet's sermon was filled with hate if you knew to listen for it. Iroh and Rayk became more apprehensive through out it because his words weren't just filled with hate. They seemed to have the unnerving ability to worm themselves into your head.

Aang and Sokka stared at Jet throughout most of the sermon in disbelief. He'd been prejudiced when they first met him, but nothing like this. Sokka's mind was also trying to figure out how Jet came to look 20 years older. Nothing he thought of made sense and he was finding it hard to think. Jet's words seemed to beat his mind into the back of his skull.

Most of them jumped when Jet started to bring the sermon to its climax and everybody in the building started to chant back the appropriate answer to every one of his incredibly biased questions. Their volume grew in volume until Toph started to feel the building start shake slightly with their shouting.

With sermon concluded people started to file out. Iroh and Rayk were glad they were sitting near the front. If anyone had the seen they were from the Fire Nation they had no doubt they would be mobbed and killed in a second.

Jet came down from the podium once most of the crowd had left and Iroh quickly moved to the back of their group. Anything they said would be disregarded if he were seen.

"Well, I hope you liked my little sermon and that you'll be joining us for others. Now then, I seem to remember that we had an appointment together. Unfortunately this place isn't the right setting for a discussion of the kind I think we'll be having so if we could meet at the palace I would be most thankful. I'll make sure the guards let you in and escort you to the correct room. Until then." He turned and left with a flourish.

As soon as he was gone Aang started, "How did he get started here!? Bumi would never let anyone as crazy as him in the city! We have to stop him!"

"That's the unfortunate part of all this Aang." Rayk was giving them all a melancholy face, "No one knows how he avoided detection, but his rise to fame was quick. He's got nearly all of Omashu following him and he also has a large following in Ba-Sing-Se. Bumi stepped down off the throne. If he hadn't he would've been throne off. Now most of the Earth Kingdom is following Lanorit's dogmas."

"So what are going to do here? We can't leave him in power since it's obvious that if he gets wind of the Day of Black Sun he's going to invade and cause genocide." Sokka was evidently already thinking of a plan despite his question.

"That is why we're here. We need to convince not to move against the Fire Nation. We already have that sorted and if he goes ahead we won't be strong enough to repel him. It's going to be hard to win him over but we need to."

One of the members of White Lotus came forward, "Rayk, we have some escorts here to take to the palace." The way it was said you could tell that the 'escorts' were there to make sure they didn't try anything.

--

Jet got a little cramp somewhere in his head when he saw his guests file in. The avatar and some of his friends were among the group. Why did they trigger those little cramps in the back of his head? It didn't matter, as long as he added them to his following.

The room they were in gave Aang a small case of nostalgia. It was the throne room that he'd met Bumi in after his century in stasis. It even had the same table that they'd sat it with him.

"Your messenger was a little sketchy on what you wanted to talk about, I apologize for not knowing what it is you actually want to talk about."

Rayk had become the leader of the group since it had become obvious that Iroh's presence here would be detrimental, "We wish to talk to you about the war and the state of the world."

Jet smirked a little, "Ah, you and every other person on the face of this earth. My views are that of my religion. You can pick up the definitive volume of it in any room here."

"Care to elaborate? We're not that well read." Rayk asked with a hidden threat in his voice.

Jet disregarded, "The Fire Nation does not belong in this world essentially. They are the only benders that do not draw power from the world around them. They do not have to draw fire from the ground or air. All fire in this world comes from above or below in the form of lightning or magma. Our view is that they be sent back to those places where they belong."

"That would cause the world to go out of balance permanently though!" Aang said it with disbelief and anger, but managed to contain it and stay in his seat.

Jet became more than irritated by this, "Did you not see what they did to your people and their homes?! How can you possibly side with them?!"

"With only two elements remaining, not even opposite ones, the world would fall into chaos and destroy itself." Aang explained quietly.

"The four elements! The world is obsessed with them! Did you ever stop to consider that maybe the world doesn't revolve around bending? Maybe that you've got the whole thing wrong and bending is just a quirk we have?"

"Then explain me! I'm proof that the Fire Nation is part of this world. If they weren't then why can I fire bend?"

"Chapter 37, page 428, line 16: And the accursed sought to brand the divine reincarnation as one of their own and forced there inhuman art upon him." Sokka was giving anyone around him asking glances to see if anyone else was weirded out by Jet's quote.

"So if Aang is the divine reincarnation then how are the elements not central to the world?" Rayk asked wryly.

"The fact that the avatar can use all four elements is not his central trait in the eyes of our religion. He is the bridge to our Lord, or the spirit world as you believe." Jet answered curtly, "He should actually be leading our sect, but I doubt that he'd accept that role right now."

"And I never will." Aang added bitterly.

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, even if it is the wrong one." Jet countered with a slight smirk.

"Speaking of wrong opinions, what is your plan for the Fire Nation now that they've retreated?" Rayk asked, his voice barely pleading.

"We fully intend to go after them. In three days time our Lord will raise his hand and block out the sun, robbing all fire benders of their ability."

"That happens naturally though! If I had the right resources I could tell you when the next one would be, right down to the day!" Sokka interjected hotly.

Rayk started to speak before Jet could, "It is about the eclipse that we came here. The Fire Lord is drawing all his armies to himself and fortifying the capital. Even with the eclipse your current forces would be beaten back since the eclipse won't last the whole day. You would squander the forces the forces you have left."

"So you would have us leave them alone to brood until they strike back out into the world to finish what they started! I think not!"

"No I wouldn't, nor would the group I represent. The outer defenses of the capital will be practically impenetrable. To strike from the inside, though, that they won't have a defense against." Rayk finished with a patient smile.

"So you are from the Fire Nation?"

"Most of my experiences have been in the Earth Kingdom."

Jet's voice became icy, "You are lucky it is against our morals to harm guests in our house." His next words came through a snarl, "You would take the throne yourself once the Fire Lord is gone and would become even worse."

"My group knows no boundaries. We have members from every nation. And no, we won't be taking the throne afterwards. If you wish we could appoint someone temporary from our Earth Kingdom though."

"I will consider calling off our invasion, but you should retire for the time being. I have rooms for all of you and you will be shown hospitality, _as is mandatory_." Jet was obviously pissed about Rayk's origins.

--

Rayk opened the door to his room and saw the note on his bed. Iroh had signed, but there wasn't any writing on it. Rayk held a candle up behind and the letters appeared: I have left in most cases of the word. I will be watching over you and will have a speedy exit for you if needed. Call out if you deem it necessary. There is also a dragon scale if you need some advice directly from me.

Sokka and Aang crowded in a few moments after Rayk had read the letter.

"Iroh is watching us. We're safe for now no matter what that psychopath does." Rayk told them matter of factly.

"You're right, he's not in his right mind." Aang answered, "We knew him before and he wasn't like this. I can't figure out what made him turn into this." Aang shook his head sadly.

"Wait, you knew Lanorit? He seems like he would be someone who you'd find a reason to tell us about." Rayk said, giving them a weary look.

"Yeah, but he's changed a lot from when we knew him before." Sokka said to which he got an asking face from Rayk, "Well, before he wasn't the leader of a group of orphaned kids, not a religion, wasn't as articulate, and, oh yeah, he's 20 years older now."

Rayk face was deadpan, "You're joking right?" Sokka shook his head.

"Okay then, that only adds more problems and doesn't help us answer our main one: how do we stop him from invading the Fire Nation a day after we stop the war?"

"We just convince him that it's not in his best interest and appease him. We made some progress already." Sokka offered.

"No, I made a mistake today. There is no way he'll call it off now. The rebellion will leave us vulnerable, there's no way around that. He'll take that opportunity and conduct his genocide. The only thing that might stop is our presence. You especially, Aang, might give him pause long enough for us to do something."

"You know, as sick as it is to say it, couldn't we just get rid of him?" Sokka asked sheepishly.

"No, he's a central figure in the world now and taking him out would only strengthen his followers resolve and they'd become even more radical. The best we could do is find a way to keep tabs on him and restrict his growth until we can do something about him. I'll try to come up with something tonight. Get your sleep, after tomorrow we're going to be freeing a nation."

"THE REBELLION IS IN TWO DAYS!!" Aang eyes became bigger if that were possible and he looked like he was going to pass out for a second.

"Calm down, you're going to be fine. There's no way you won't succeed. Worst-case scenario you make the Fire Lord's head explode. Not aesthetically pleasing and seriously creepy, but hey, you'll live." Rayk's answer and his air of levity only made Aang hyperventilate faster.

"Okay, let him stay with Katara until he calms down." Rayk waved Sokka off like he was a nurse.

"You know who you're saying that to right?"

"Hey, he's hurting. If you were you'd go too…her."

"That was low Rayk." Sokka didn't show anger; he just looked like he'd been let down.

Rayk made an apologetic face, "Yeah, sorry, it came out wrong. You get the point though, right?" Sokka nodded his understanding then led the shaky Aang off down the corridor.

Rayk turned back to the seemingly empty room, "Iroh, I know your there. If you could go and check on Lanorit to see if he's planning on trying anything on us while we're here? Thanks in advance. You can tell me in my sleep." With that Rayk climbed onto his bed, assumed the lotus position, and began to think. This proved difficult because his thoughts were disconcertingly perforated by Azula's image.

--

At the same time that Rayk was sitting on his bed puzzling out a plan to save the Fire Nation's skin his father was sitting up on his bed as well. Rayk's mother was lying quietly beside him, already asleep.

The Minister of Intelligence was sitting up and holding a whispered discussion with the cloaked figure that had appeared without a sound in his room.

"How can you be so sure that the Fire Lord will fall after tomorrow?"

"My dear man, I've told you what I am, how do you doubt my ability of foresight?"

"I just don't understand how this proposition of yours will go unnoticed. It seems blatant."

"You will be no more than a beacon this time around. With the head of the Royal family gone the ministers will become decimated and they will rally to you. The world won't have a place for you after that for a long time so you must bide your time. Your action won't be taken until after the Fire Lord has already fallen so he won't be able to see it coming because there will be no trace."

"Very well, I will preserve our ruling class so it can take back its position later. But you said that I'll be a beacon this time around. What other part will I play?"

"You will be my champion and will be resurrected whenever you are needed. You will become known as Jericho: Champion of the Path of Radiance. There is just one thing that will hinder you. Your experiences from each life will remain beyond you reach. It is the same for the avatar and anyone that is reincarnated."

Jericho sat where he was for a moment before answering, "Very well, I will be honored to serve you."

--

Instinct's Info: That last part should give you gossebumps if you've read Cinder. Seriously it should. It is unfortunate that you have to search for it since it's on my other account, which I don't use anymore. It's a good story if the reviews are to be believed!


	24. Master Stroke

Instinct's Info: Be forewarned: Updates are going to get sketchy for a while. Exams are coming and I really need to study for a few of them. Even after that, don't expect fast updates because of summer. It takes a while for the bliss of not having to do anything to wear off, ha ha. I don't own Avatar, if I did I wouldn't be writing this.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Masterstroke

Rayk was behind the trench again, watching the hulking forms of the soldiers spill out of the trenches. He stood where he was, not shaking like he normally did. He raised the spear that was too big for him in defiance and let out a yell to try and psych himself up before he charged.

He cut cleanly through the first soldier and then looked around as the others dissolved. He looked around in, slightly surprised, and spotted Iroh standing behind him.

"You finally got over them then?" Rayk nodded, noting that he did it sheepishly for some reason.

Iroh gave him a melancholy smile, which made Rayk ask, "Okay, what's the bad news?"

"Lanorit is actually carrying the word of a spirit. I can't get into his head, it's blocked off."

"So, do we have any idea what the spirit is playing at?"

"From what I _was_ able to see, the spirit wants the Fire Nation gone for some reason. The spirit also gave Lanorit's words the benefit of being able to worm their way into your head. You almost have to make a conscious effort to keep the words from turning into your truth. That's why he has such a big following."

"Well, I don't see a way out of this. We're going into a verbal battle against a fanatic who's words are his greatest weapons, we can't stop the rebellion and we can't stop him from going through with the invasion, and he's being advised by a higher being to boot. The only hope I see is to get the same type of help he does."



"I'll help you get there. Use the dragon scale and I'll boost you the rest of the way." Rayk nodded his thanks. He woke up an indefinite amount of time later, it was still night though. He lit a small fire with a pair of spark rocks he found in the room and started to boil the water in the basin in his bathroom. He threw the dragon scale in it and went to get some of the herbs he'd brought with him. He doubted that dragon scales made a good tasting tea.

He took a big gulp of his sink of tea and lay down before he left his body. Just as he was drifting off he thought he heard Lanorit's voice coming from somewhere. Iroh appeared beside him a second later and seemingly threw him threw the ceiling.

Rayk landed deftly on the shore of a small lake. He looked around for any sign of life but found none. Most of the lake was surrounded by weeping willows and the strange sun overhead was radiating light that gave the whole place the look of twilight and day mixed together.

His mind started to wander as he did the same, wandering around the lake's perimeter. Then he stopped and his vision refocused on himself. It couldn't be himself though, the image was flawless and you could tell by the look of it wasn't a reflection. Rayk waved a hand tentatively and the image mimicked it perfectly at the same time.

Rayk continued to experiment until the image got bored and spoke, "Are you quiet done?" The voice was low and mellow, "No, let me answer that: Yes you are because after this you'll show surprise like you're doing now. Next comes shock at me knowing this and now the thought that if I keep this up you'll be getting annoyed. Now you'll push that thought out of your head as your remember what it is you came here to do, namely asking me for advice."

"You're Hannya, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am the spirit of Wisdom."

"Will you give me advice?"

Hannya stopped for a minute and stared at Rayk before speaking again, "This is one of the few times where I will give advice and it won't be in riddles. Normally any wisdom you achieve, have to earn, but since that idiotic spirit doesn't seem to be following my rules, then I guess I can bend my rules this one time."



"So how do we beat him?"

"The man is protected by the spirit and the situation he's constructed around himself, it's actually not a bad plan, quite ingenious really. In any case, the man is almost of no consequence. The spirit is after something, which I can't figure out. Like any of us though, he'll have back up plans and layers to each plan he uses. It's too late into this one for you to claim a victory, but that also means that it's also too late for him to move to secondary layer of his plan. Aim for a tie.

"To attain a tie you must know who it is you're up against and the situation that you're fighting in completely. Secondly, you must know which of your goals to go for first. Once you have all this you should be able to come up with a way to combat him." Hannya concluded and looked at Rayk expectantly.

Rayk tilted his head back at the sky and started to think out loud, "Well, we're going against a fanatic gifted with special powers from…what spirit is helping him exactly?"

"Syh-Shen, don't worry, he's not as bad as he sounds." Hannya waved with an air of levity.

Rayk took a deep breath and continued, "Okay, so Syh-Shen gave Lanorit's words the ability to worm their way into your head. He's also the leader of a religion that's starting to dominate the Earth Kingdom. He's also bent on invading the Fire Nation and conducting a genocide. Syh-Shen is a spirit so he shouldn't be able to even be on our mortal plain under normal circumstances since he isn't a regional spirit. That means that he came here under special circumstances.

"Currently Lanorit has us backed into a corner because we can't avoid following through with our rebellion, but if we do we probably won't be able to fend off his army when they make their invasion of the Fire Nation. The only way the invasion won't happen is if we can convince Lanorit to call it off. Any ideas of how to do that?"

Hannya kept his that annoying knowing smile on his face when he answered, "He's been turned into a fanatic which means that his ideas and way of thinking are radically different from the way that your mind works, so no, there is no way for you to convince him. I at least guide in the right direction if there was."

Rayk heaved a sigh before he resumed his brainstorming, "Okay, so the invasion being cancelled is out of the question. So we'll have to find a way to route the invasion before it lands." Rayk stopped for a moment as an idea formed in his head, "We'll let the fortifications build up around the ports and then make our move. If we play smart and use them to they're fullest we'll still have a chance!"

"Do you know the population distribution of the world?" Hannya asked, still wearing the same smile, "The Earth Kingdom holds over two thirds of the worlds population with an even split between males and females. The average age of the males are 15 years old and growing. They might be exhausted from over a century of war, but to think you have a chance because of one simple advantage, I doubt you're ability to survive. They could easily pull together a massive army."

"How do you know all that?"

"I'm close friends with Wan Shi Tong, he distrusts everyone, but he lets spirits into his library more often than humans."

"Okay, so we need more advantages to get a tie, what did you mean by a tie exactly?"

"To avoid breeding more contempt they can't be routed, but at the same time they can not win because then hundreds of innocent people would die. You must find a way to land in the needle's width separating the two."

"Okay, we can't land there no matter what we do now, so something must be added or changed in the current situation to allow for it to happen…We need to appeal to Lanorit somehow when we're both on the ropes, but how if he won't listen to us now…"

Rayk stopped for a second and a memory came rushing back to him, though why he remembered it he didn't know, "Lanorit's voice was coming from somewhere before I left, what was he saying…" Rayk's eyes widened when he deciphered what had been said.

Hannya spoke before Rayk could, "You barely escaped his masterstroke when you came here. It was an ingenious move on his part. People are in their most suggestive state when they are asleep. By going through one of his sermons while everyone is asleep their minds can't put up a defense against his statements and they'll embrace them whole heartedly."

Rayk's eyes darted in every direction while he put together the implications of the statement, "We don't have a lot of time then…I got it. He doesn't know most of us aren't asleep. We can use that to place one of us near him and that will gain us his trust. From there that person can appeal to him at the right moment and the Fire Nation can survive. After that we can have an eye around him to make sure he doesn't try anything ever again."

Hannya smile changed to a nicer one, "Just so you don't panic and think you've lost everyone but Sokka, Katara and Aang, I gave Sokka an epiphany so they could react to some of Lanorit's plan. You figured out the plan that could save you all, now all you have to do is enact it, good luck. I hope to see you again in another two centuries."

Rayk bowed respectfully but stopped halfway through the bow, "Wait, what are you talki," Rayk was knocked backwards with the force of a bull-phant and when the world stopped spinning he was back in his room.

Rayk dashed to the door and opened it a crack. It crashed into his head a second later when Aang ran straight through it.

Rayk sat on his but where he'd fallen and nursed his injured head, "Relax Aang, I was getting help when he tried it, I'm fine. I doubt it would have worked on me anyway since I'm _from_ the Fire Nation."

"You knew about this and you didn't do anything?!" Aang was shocked and went so far as to take a step back.

"I was getting advice on what we should do from Hannya the spirit of Wisdom. He gave Sokka an epiphany to counteract Lanorit's trick so there shouldn't be a problem. Go tell everyone to get in bed quick so it doesn't look like anything's up then come back here so I can tell what the new plan is."

Aang didn't bother any more questions. He nodded his understanding and bolted form the room, throwing up all the dust in it as he did. He was back in under a minute and closed the door quietly behind him.

He turned to face Rayk with a calmer but sadder look on his face, "Everyone from the White Lotus has been converted, no one got to them. Every one of us is fine though. Suki and Haru were close calls, but we got them about thirty seconds into it so they should be okay."

Rayk breathed a sigh of relief, "Excellent, okay, here's how we're going to make this smack Lanorit in the face…"

--



Aang nodded his understanding once the explanation was done and posed the one question that hadn't been answered, "So which of us has to stay behind?"

"Although I hate to say it: Katara and Toph are prime choices. Katara or Sokka could maneuver the Water Tribes away from Lanorit, but we're going to need Sokka and his brain on our side for the invasion and Katara could come up with reasons for not being on the frontlines if she stayed behind. Toph's family could easily become a thorn in Lanorit's side because of their political weight and financial position. We may not like it, but it's the best chance we have."

Aang looked like his heart had snapped so Rayk cut in to try and soothe him, "Look, we're going to have to go into hiding after this is all over since I don't think you want to spend the rest of your life being chased down by Lanorit so we could probably hook back up with them after the rebellion and invasion are over."

"I let go of her once, I'm not doing it again."

Rayk sighed with a little frustration flitting into it, "Look, you're not letting go over her so just calm down. You'll be able to see her after a few days so calm down. What's the worst that can happen to her? She's a master water bender and she's going to be in the back lines of their army so don't worry about here."

This sated Aang slightly because he nodded slightly dejectedly. He got up and wished Rayk a good night, then stepped out into the hallway and was gone. Rayk got up off the floor, still feeling the developing lump on the back of his head an walked back into bathroom where he proceeded to another gulp of the water in the basin.

He managed to hop into his bed before he left this time so it wouldn't look like he'd passed out in the bathroom for some unknown reason.

Iroh was waiting for him, "Hannya is something else. That plan of his is something else."

"It's ingenious, I'll give him that. Now then, we'll probably need a quick exit tomorrow so if you could arrange impromptu jump scenario with the Echelon that'd be great. Oh, and if you have some free time, try talking to Aang a little. I know that separating him from Katara was cruel, but it gives us our best odds."



"I know it did, but you can't just weigh the cold facts of something. You have to factor in other people's emotions as well."

"I know that, but honestly, we don't have much wiggle room as it is. Besides, I haven't seen Azula in a day and I'm fine. He has to go two days most so I honestly can't see the problem."

"Rayk, Aang's different from you. He's more emotional and your decision, though it may have been for the good of the group is going to effect him more than you think it will. Besides, " Iroh grew a smile, "I doubt you'll be able to put up with Azula in that kind of relationship for much longer." He was laughing by the time he finished the sentence.

Rayk laughed, though not as hard, "I know, I know, I'm crazy. I just see something that the others don't, okay."

Iroh calmed down after another few chuckles, "Okay, we've got to get moving. I'll arrange what you need. You need to talk to the others."

--

Rayk darted between the dreams of his remaining allies. He gave them condensed versions of the new plan and any information that they'd need. Katara was slightly distraught at her role, but agreed to it after a _very, very_ long argument.

Toph was slightly angry with Rayk for intruding on her dream. It seemed reminiscent of Sokka's visions when he'd drank cactus juice. Never the less, he'd persevered her barrage of imaginary earth bending and managed to get the point across to her. She accepted her role, though the lack of emotion showed she had just as much a problem with it as Katara had.

Rayk was about to flit into Suki's dream when he stopped abruptly. Her dream didn't have any materiality to it. Not only would he not be able to form an image of himself in it, but the tow things that seemed to be fighting it out were the values and beliefs of the Kyoshi Warriors and something that Rayk discovered to be the ideas of Lanorit and Syh-Shen. He looked in on Haru as well and saw something similar. Apparently even hearing thirty seconds of the speech had an adverse effect on your mind. He cursed himself and left them. He couldn't risk telling them about the plan if they might betray them.

He landed back in his body and enjoyed a deep sleep strangely devoid of dreams.

--



Instincts Info: You know, thirty chapters might not be so outrageous…Anyway, please review! I would really appreciate it, especially anything concerning Iroh. I'm guessing how he'd say things here. It's far to surreal writing for him for it to feel affective.


	25. Shattered Union

Instincts Info: Last Chapter for awhile so sorry, though I may post another if I get enough reviews (like, any at all is a good number). I've also started to update Book Six which you should check if you like this one, or five. I could really use some reviews on either of them.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Shattered Union

Rayk woke up with a feeling of dread in some stomach. He knew why it was there. They started along a path today that made a knife's edge look like a promenade. If anyone slipped up a fraction then a lot of people would die. He stopped himself before making a morbid correction: a lot _more_ people would die. He got out of bed and his legs stopped shaking after a minute. He needed to look composed; like nothing was amiss or else Lanorit might suspect they'd managed to get around his trick from last night.

Speaking of which, he needed to think of a way to test if Suki and Haru were still with them. He got dressed and walked out of his room, lost in thought until he spotted Sokka doing the same thing.

"Have you been to see Suki yet?" Rayk tried to make his face a mask, but that seemed to tip Sokka off.

"No, why? What's the matter?"

"You know she heard a little a bit of the speech in her sleep. If her dreams showed anything then there was quite a mental war going on in her head. I don't know who won."

"I'll go see her. You should check on Haru. This plan of yours is more crazier than most of mine so we can't have any screw ups." Sokka seemed devoid of his usual happiness, not that it usually evident in the mornings.

"The line between madness and genius is often blurred." Rayk tried to speak in a solemn voice, "Good luck today, we're going to need it."

Sokka stopped outside Suki's door. He was really nervous about checking. He didn't know what he'd do if she hadn't made it. He steeled himself for the worse and knocked on the door like it might snap at him if he did it too hard.

Before he'd knocked twice the door to the room opened. Suki definitely wasn't herself this morning. She still looked like she was half asleep.

When she spoke her voice was fine though, "Hey Sokka, didn't know I ordered a wake up call." She certainly sounded awake.

Sokka recovered quickly from the mild shock the voice had brought, "I know you didn't, but, normally it's the other way around. I was wondering if you feel alright."

Suki her time thinking about and eventually answered, "Yeah, pretty much. I got a headache when I got up the s'morning. That's probably just because of what happened last night."

"You're sure you feel all right?" Sokka pressed.

"Yeah, I told you how I feel already. It's not going to change in a second so I'm still fine!"

Sokka backed off and answered sheepishly, "Sorry, I didn't want to take any chances after what Lanorit did."

Suki calmed down after hearing that, "Okay, sorry for that." She paused for a second before continuing, "You know, he might be slightly crazy, but he's got some really good ideas. If you hadn't woke me and the others up Rayk probably wouldn't last the day."

"I don't know, he can be pretty sneak when he wants to be."

"Yeah, I could see him finding a way to sneak out of here…hope he can take the rest of us. Thanks for the save."

Something tugged at the back of Sokka's mind but he ignored it, "Yeah, I'm glad my brain is so smart." Sokka tapped his head as he said it. It was lame attempt at trying to avoid the awkward silence he'd seen coming. It didn't work though and after a few seconds they parted company with a good bye of 'good morning'.

Haru, in stark contrast only woke up when Rayk knocked as loudly as he could. Rayk heard him actually fall out of bed.

The door opened a second later, "Thanks for waking me up." He paused for a second, "Okay, how did you give Sokka that idea last night?"

Rayk breathed a sigh of relief, Haru was fine, "That wasn't me. I was talking to Hannya last night and he gave Sokka the idea, though Sokka didn't know that. I was trying to figure out a new plan to get us out of this mess with Hannya for some of the night."

"You're not telling everyone this just now are you?" Haru was obviously concerned.

"No, just you and Suki don't know. I went through everyone's dreams last night and told them what we're doing. You and Suki were having some problems with what you'd heard so I skipped you in case you didn't go back to your old selves.

"I've only been able to come up with alibi's for Sokka, Aang and myself though. You're going to have to stay here and act as a spy for us. Katara and Toph are going to win Lanorit over and bring the invasion to a halt. Help them if you think they need it."

"Wait, so we're not going to try and stop the invasion?"

"No, he won't stop it no matter what we do. The best move we can make is to stun it so we can halt it. Once it's over we're going to regroup and put the squeeze on Lanorit and try to slow him down. If you're called on to fight go for it. We can't afford to make any doubt enter into this so fight against the Fire Nation. Just go easy on us if we end up meeting out there."

Haru gave him a weak smile, though he didn't meet his gaze, "I didn't know it was possible to feel tired this way when you're young."

Rayk knew what he was talking about, "Don't worry, hang on a little longer. Once you get your fix of peace you'll be fine. Get a good breakfast and be ready to start acting light the bigots that fill this place." Rayk gave him a sarcastic smile before walking away.

--

Sokka met with Rayk before they went to get breakfast and he beet Rayk o his own question, "How's Haru?"

"Fine, he hasn't changed at all and there's nothing out of place in anything he does. Suki the same?"

Sokka's face became slightly pained, "I'm not sure. She wasn't quite herself, but nothing seemed really out of place with her."

"Did you tell her any of the plan?"

"No." Sokka knew that Rayk agreed with his decision, but he still felt like he'd betrayed her some how.

--

Rayk had to hand it to the others. He didn't know if they'd come together before hand and thought of some of these details or not, but they were a nice touch. Rayk sat at one end of the table and Lanorit at the other. Sokka and Aang were seated on either side of them and the others had opted to leave a few chairs empty between the next group and Rayk. This made it look like they had sided with Lanorit.

Rayk feigned ignorance towards this and started where'd they'd left off yesterday, "So, have you decided to call of the invasion?" He intentionally put a note of pleading in his voice.

Lanorit grew a benevolent smile that barely his the malicious one underneath, "Yes and I've come to the conclusion to do this as diplomatically as I can. Everyone in the room gets a vote, majority rules. How does that sound to you?"

Rayk knew why he was doing this and he fought back a smile and kept up his act, praying that Sokka and Aang would do the same, "That sounds fair to us, everyone in favour of calling off the invasion raise there hand." Three hands were raised, just as everyone at one end of the table predicted.

"It seems one more than expected wasn't affected by my lullaby." Lanorit smirked as he said it.

Rayk was using all of his will power not to smirk back, "So that's what that was all about." He paused for a second and cursed under his breath before continuing, "I guess there's no point in staying here. You best be prepared, know that we will be."

Rayk stood up with a little more force than normal to show his anger. Aang didn't need to act, tears were running down his face. Sokka was one step behind that with his barely in check.

"You are no longer guests here then." Rayk's blood went cold. This wasn't foreseen or welcome.

"Iroh, get us outta here!" Rayk shouted into the air.

Everyone's eyes snapped closed and two things were shouted across the room. One was someone from the White Lotus telling Lanorit to close his eyes the second was Suki yelling to attack them.

Rayk was trying to wait patiently for the jump to start or end. He didn't know which, just that he really wanted to open his eyes. He almost did a second later when something hit him hard in the neck. He fought the instinct to open his eyes as he went down. He heard someone else hit the ground beside him.

A second later and there were hands hauling him up words. His eyes opened and he saw Sokka clutching his throat and staring at the ground. Now the situation had changed. Aang's tears had dried and Sokka's were flowing. Lying on the ground in front of himself and Sokka were Kyoshi fans.

--

Rayk was sitting with Iroh in the garden while everyone else in the base was running around in a hurry, trying to get ready for the rebellion tomorrow.

"Look, I told you, I can't comfort him! He's O for three now! His first girlfriend _is_ the _moon_ now; Suki will try to kill him if she sees him again and Toph's probably thinking he's still after Suki with the way he's been acting! I'd probably be in the same state given the situation!" Rayk was resorting to gesticulating madly to get his point across.

"Alright then, can you convince Aang to let go of Katara?" Iroh asked, his voice very commanding despite asking a question.

Rayk was appalled, "I know I'm overstepping myself here but…when did you turn into a Pakik follower?"

Iroh gave him a knowing smile before continuing, "I'm not talking about his philosophies. You can let people go and still love them. How do you think past avatars could go into the state yet have a wife and family?" Rayk opened his mouth and prayed an intelligent counterargument came out.

None did so Iroh continued, "I don't think I need to tell you that we're going to need something like that on our side to win today, but we're going to need Sokka too. You can do it, just use your heart instead of your head."

Rayk's shoulders slumped a little, but he nodded ascent and got up and left.

--

Aang was sitting in the bending area in the lotus position trying to meditate and calm himself. It wasn't working. He still had lines on his face that said worry all over him and his breathing still wasn't slow and even.

Iroh came in and sat down beside him in a similar pose. Iroh sat there until Aang couldn't take it any more and started asking for advice.

"How am I supposed to do this? Half my friends are going to be fighting against me tomorrow!"

Iroh cracked one of his eyes open when he responded, "They might be fighting on the other side, but they won't hurt anyone from our side and they'll avoid fighting any of us if at all possible. You need to trust them more."

That quieted Aang down for a second, then he spoke in a calmer voice, "What's going to happen if I can't defeat the Fire Lord?"

"No human on earth can stand up against the power of the Avatar State."

"Azula sure seemed to…"

"You were following Pakik's ideas then. They might help at first, but they aren't the right ones and hold you back later."

"You know Guru Pakik?" Aang was shocked, but was showing happiness for the first time in a while.

"Yes, unfortunately. He was thrown out of the order. After that he took up full residence in one of the air temples." Aang made to interject, but Iroh stopped so he could explain, "We agreed with his ideas at first, but as he got closer to what he called enlightenment we started to see a major problem with his ideas. Aang, what is darkness?"

It took Aang a second to realize he'd been asked a question, "Oh, well, um, the opposite of light?"

Iroh showed no emotion because of the answer, "That is exactly what Pakik thought. Darkness is the _absence_ of light, not its opposite. When you cleared your chakras you removed part of the emotion they're a part of. This doesn't make any problems to begin with, but it gives you practice for something else. If you let her," Iroh intentionally the girl nameless even though he knew who it was, "go then you'd end up letting go every earthly connection, you'd stop being human. All emotions stem from love in some form. By letting that go you'd lose your humanity and the only thing left would be the avatar spirit."

It took Aang a minute to take in everything in, "Why didn't you tell me all this when we were going to the Crystal Catacombs?"

"I could only guess then and I didn't want to make assumptions. I thought that you couldn't do it anyways." That made Aang cringe at remembering what he'd done to save her down there.

Iroh continued before the air bender could look anymore hurt, "Letting someone go isn't what Pakik thought it was though. Letting her go is letting go of her earthly attachment." Aang looked a little confused so Iroh elaborated, "Do you lover the idea of her or just her body?" Iroh didn't know another way to put the last bit and he regretted it slightly; Aang's face was crimson.

Once the red had subsided Aang spoke in the calmest voice Iroh had ever heard, "Thank you. I think I'll be fine now." Aang stood up, his eyes still closed. When they opened they glowed. His body felt like it was weightless and every movement he made his bending became a hundred times stronger. He came out of the Avatar State a moment later and a slight wooziness hit him.

Iroh stood where he was with a solemn expression on his face. How was there still war when people knew you had to go up against that? How could any nation want war when a twelve-year old could wipe their armies from the map?

--

"Sokka?" The question was asked very tentatively. Rayk was standing outside the door to the lab with a look on his face that would make you think he'd just eaten something very unpleasant.

"What's wrong with him? He's been in there forever."

Rayk jumped when he heard Azula's voice, "Please stop doing that. I'm going to get a heart attack at twenty."

She smirked a little bit when he said that, "All right, I'll make sure to stomp around as loudly as possible."

"Much obliged, now, would you mind opening the door for me?" He moved out of the way slightly. She grabbed the handle at the base and waited for a moment then pulled it off with the end glowing red. The lock was behind and after flicking it in a few places the door swung open.

After that she turned to leave with an asking expression from Rayk, which she answered, "The situation is only laughable at face level. If you go deeper then that it becomes pitiable." He gave her a smile that hinted at him feeling proud of her. She was certainly acting more humane than she used to.

Sokka was inside the lab and it was in even more a mess than it was before he'd left, it also seemed more gothic. Many of the objects scattered across the tables were a bit sharper and more malicious looking than they'd been before. Sokka had his back to the door and turned around when Rayk approached.

"You don't need to worry about me, I'm fine now. I wanted to work in private." Rayk was worried for the simple fact that Sokka's face lacked the normal display emotion it normally held.

"You shouldn't bury grief in work. It doesn't work, take it from me." Rayk was solemn and was trying to force Sokka to look at him. No one could shrug off something like that in such a short amount of time, albeit they didn't have the time needed anyway.

"I know what you're thinking and I agree, just, near the end, I started trying to make up with Suki so I wouldn't have to end it on bad terms. It still hurts, just, not as bad you think it does." Sokka tugged on some strings and most of the room moved. Rayk ducked instinctively as things started to fly.

Things settled down with a clank and Rayk stood up with a confused expression. It seemed like something had just brushed around the contents of the room because nothing had changed. Then he saw Sokka.

Somehow Sokka had produced a full suit of armor for himself in the short time he'd been back.

"I started on it along with the experiments. Its actually been done for the last while, I just haven't tested it." Rayk could only look on incredulously.

The suit was a masterpiece. The metals it used had been fired so they shone silver, blue and black. There were crescent moons shining brilliantly on each joint, contrasted by the black covering the remaining area. The plating covering the legs and arms was a dark blue with tendrils of black snaking around from the back of them. The breast plating was the same blue with another crescent design being held in a wolf's mouth. The only thing missing was a helmet.

"How did you make this?" Rayk barely got the words out of his mouth.

Sokka took his time answering, "Toph helped me. It's the one time she didn't tease me about something."

"Yet you say you're not hurting." It was a statement and a question at the same time.

"I think she knows why I was trying to make up with Suki. It's why she hasn't tried anything I think." The emotion was slowly coming back to his face and his words became more animated, "Now, could you help me with this. I need to get the backscratcher working."

"You put in a backscratcher?"

"What? I'm supposed to get distracted in a fight because my back's itchy!" A laugh exploded out of Rayk. After he started to help Sokka. The backscratcher was only the first part. The crescent blades needed to be mounted as well as a few other weapons that could be dispensed at any time.

--

There was a gathering in the main hall with Zuko, Mai, and Ty-Lee at its heart. Aang, Sokka, Rayk and Iroh came through the crowd a moment later. Their dress had changed slightly. Rayk had a flashy red cloak with the Lotus emblazoned on the back and a halberd added to his arsenal along with a belt with numerous pouches along it, as well as another gauntlet on his other hand in place of the launcher. Aang had taken off the shoulder of his shirt to allow for better movement (I couldn't think of anything, just think of his new clothes for the second part of season three. Sorry about that!).

Zuko had his long swords with his mask over the scabbard. He was also wearing the clothes he had from Ba-Sing-Se, it was a tad obvious what he thought this would make up for. Ty-Lee had added a sparkling weight to her braid so it acted as a weight. Mai had a small blade in front of her launchers for close combat, but otherwise was unchanged. The only thing that had changed was that her face might have shown a little more emotion since her nerves were shorter than normal. Iroh had chosen to wear his old general's uniform.

Iroh raised his voice when he spoke so everyone could hear him, "We're going to be touching down at the far west of the Crater. We have to move as fast as possible to close in on the palace before the chaos created in the Flow gets loose. Don't attract attention and defend yourselves. Once we're in flush everyone out so they can be captured. The Minister of Public Relations is on our side. He's been rousing the people to arms delicately for the past several months. If you see him protect him! One more thing: don't cause any structural damage if possible. We'll need it for tomorrow. Everyone…Eyes closed!"

Aang's eyes snapped shut and his heart felt like it had skipped moving to his throat and had gone right into his head. He felt himself slip into the avatar state like he always did when he was jumped. This time he stayed in it and tried to get used to the power that flowed through him when he was in it.

There was a cry for eyes to open. Aang didn't know what he'd been expecting when they'd got there, but this wasn't it. Their group was squeezed behind the rocky escarpment that back the Crater and a giant metal wall that only turned at the edge of his vision.

"Okay, 'round the wall the palace!" Someone yelled.

Aang's heart dropped. If this was one wall of the palace how was he supposed to find one person in all of it?

--

Instinct's Info: Lots happen'n this chapter. Tell me what you think and I might be able to find some time to get one more chapter together before exams really start bogging me down.


	26. End of the Road

Instinct's Info: Sorry for the ridiculously long wait. Numerous reasons held me back such as constant thunderstorms, my computer memory being wiped because of them, exams (a while a go), summer jobs, an inexplicable aversion to write, and my inability to find the damn USB key to get the recovered chapters on here. So, again, sorry for the long wait. Please review because we're practically at the end and I'll be starting my revisions very soon. Also, this chapter has slight gore factor and may make the squeamish in the audience slightly unnerved even though I dn't get very descriptive. Nothing to warrant an 'M' though. And lastly: insert disclaimer from numerous other chapters here

Chapter Twenty-Six: End of the Road

"Okay, 'round the wall of the palace!" Someone yelled.

Aang's heart dropped. If this was one wall of the palace how was he supposed to find one person in all of it? It'd take them forever just to get to the entrance!

Then he heard Appa roar behind him. His face brightened noticeably. Aang flew through the air to land on Appa and gave him as big a hug as he could manage, which was basically splaying out across the giant bison's face. Appa returned the greeting with his mellow roar.

Most of the group they'd arrived with moved away and started down the side of the palace at a run. Sokka stayed where he was though, along with the five people that Aang never thought he would call allies, much less friends.

"What are they doing? Appa can ferry everyone over the wall!" Sokka started to yell at the departing group to come back but was silenced by Rayk.

"Remember I said that we were going to be the ones to make the panic happen here? That's what they're for. We're just going into the palace so Aang can fulfill his destiny and so we can flush anyone out that tries to hunker and outlast it. Now come on, I get the feeling Aang wants to fly."

"Okay, just warning you: it's terrifying!" Sokka called, slightly mocking as he ran to catch up with Rayk. Their expressions were going to make his day if his first time flying was anything to go by, or Toph's for that matter.

Sokka climbed onto Appa like a cat and sat down smugly, happily waiting to see what they'd do.

"First time flyers hold on tight!" Aang called, the same words that he'd used when he'd just be unfrozen, "Appa, yip-yip!" The flight was short, but the reactions lasted after they landed. Ty-Lee continued giggling like a baby getting tickled, Mai's eyes stayed fully open, Zuko continued to look like he was going to have a heart attack, and Azula was taking quite a few deep breaths.

"That was sweet." Rayk stammered out while gulping down air, "And, now fun times over." He added once he saw they'd been spotted. A rather large group of guards was sprinting towards them with spears already pointed towards them.

Everyone leapt off of Appa, save Aang, to start to fight them. Aang turned Appa around. Appa flung his tail down and the guards scattered like leaves in a breeze. Aang grinned at them from the saddle as they looked back at him.

"Okay, Zuko you were here last. Any idea where your father would be?" Rayk asked, catching almost everyone off guard.

"Probably locked up in his room with a doors that's been reinforced by steel at this point." Zuko answered bitterly.

Rayk's brow furrowed as he tried to think of a way to get to him, "I shouldn't have asked Toph to stay behind." He muttered with a little bit of frustration.

"You might be able to get in through the window above his room. There's stone around there so you could make a whole in the wall Aang." Zuko shrugged off the impressed look that Rayk gave him for his idea.

Rayk started to refine the plan after that, "Aang, get Ozai into the garden once we're there. It'll give you more room to move and we'll have our own entrance into palace. That should give us the drop on the security that's there." Rayk stopped for a second to contemplate something, "Should one of us stay behind in case you need help?"

Aang took a deep breath, "No, I need to beet him on my own." Rayk gave Aang a hard look before nodding his head in confirmation and motioned for everyone to follow him through the courtyard they'd landed in.

"Why don't we fly there?" You could tell Aang was a little put out.

"The garden is on the North side of the palace as well as our old rooms. There's extra protection there because of that. If we fly there we'll be in a direct line of fire with guard towers and they won't be able to miss at that range." Azula explained with a patient voice. Although Aang's thanks came a second later, it was still slightly hesitant.

It was lucky that they'd landed in the back of the palace because there were very few guards patrolling the back and those that were had to give Appa a clear shot. They hadn't gone far when Sokka's brain kicked in. Appa blew them the rest of the way to where the wall turned to the north side with one swing of his tail, though Aang need to stop all of them from skidding along the ground with some bending. Appa skimmed along the ground to catch up to them.

They could tell they were close to the garden because there was pollen in the air and it was making Mai sneeze. There was only a wall separating them and they were over it in a second. There wasn't a sole in the garden so Aang took Appa over the next wall and ushered him into the stables on the other side where the stablemen inside fled from their presence.

He came back over where everyone was waiting for him, "Which room is his?"

"The only one with bars over it." Zuko said, his voice strangely devoid of emotion.

It was true; all the other windows around it were either open or had drapes hanging over them. There was only one window that had bars criss-crossing it. There was only one problem though. The wall around the window had been plated with metal.

Rayk dragged his eyes away from the wall for a second to heave a sigh and rub his temples in exasperation, "Why did I have Toph stay behind?" He recovered and started to issue out his idea, "Okay, we have to be very, _very_, fast here. That metal has to have a hole blown in it so that the rock underneath is exposed. Then Aang needs to get up there and take the wall out so he can get the Fire Lord out here. Aang try to take the wall out as quietly as you can. I don't want to have to give up the element of surprise unless there's no other option."

Azula wound up and sent a bolt of lightning at the wall and the metal turned cherry red, but no hole appeared. Zuko did the same thing and melted the metal so it ran down the wall like rainwater. Azula was more than a little shocked, but he didn't seem to notice.

Aang was up to the wall and flew into the air. As soon as he found a dry spot he slammed his fist into the wall and turned it to dust. He blew the dust inward and disappeared inside the room. A glow came from it and a few flashes, then a body flew out of it and landed on top of a tree and another jumped nimbly down with his eyes aglow.

"Get going, they might have heard the blasts." Aang said in that inhuman voice of the avatar state as they ran past. He raised his hand and a flight of stairs came out of the ground and led into the room. Once that was done Aang turned his eyes to the Fire Lord who had set the tree he landed in aflame. He dropped down to the ground and seemed to lose the slouch that Aang had seen in the room a moment ago.

"I won't let anyone take my power away. I'll make sure that you really are dead this time!" A white flame appeared on each of Ozai's fingers and tiny balls of flame started to shoot out of them very quickly.

Aang's feet barely moved and he was behind Ozai. Aang raised his hand and the white fireballs shot back and hit him in the blink of an eye. Aang was knocked backwards into the trunk of the burnt tree and crashed through the weakened trunk and onto his back, a hole being burned into the back of his shirt even as he got back to his feet.

More of the white fireballs appeared on Ozai's hand as he turned towards Aang, "These _never_ miss. You should have stayed dead!" Ozai's voice rose at the end as he whipped his hand towards Aang and launched the demonic little fireballs again.

Aang didn't move for a second trying to come up with a way to get around the fireballs. Inspiration came to him in a flash. He whipped up the hurricane force winds that had carried him behind Ozai the first time to move his body and he practically vanished from existence. Ozai spun around wildly, looking for his target, but only saw a brief glimpse before his eyes lost track of him again. The fireballs were going crazy trying to hit Aang and flew through the air in seemingly random patterns.

Then one hit Ozai as it flew towards Aang and knocked Ozai off balance. The blow spun him around and just as he recovered his footing another connected and knocked him off balance, then another and another. He was spinning around like a top before the barrage ended and Aang stopped abruptly and raised a clenched hand. It flashed open and Ozai was thrown backwards and slammed into the wall that surrounded the garden.

Ozai tried to stand, but stopped once he'd levered himself onto one leg. Aang flashed into existence in front of him with fire in his hand and Ozai acted. The fire was forced back and Aang let out a yell as it burnt his hand. He stumbled backwards and faltered.

Ozai got to his feet a second later and started to push Aang back knocking him farther off balance. Fear crept into Aang's expression and before he knew what was happening he'd lost the avatar state. The fact wasn't lost on Ozai who started to up the power of his attacks as he forced farther and farther back.

Aang did the only thing he could think of and made a vacuum. Ozai's fire bending stopped abruptly and he faltered with a stunned expression on his face. He tried again with a much bigger blast and it disappeared before it got to Aang. He let out a grunt of frustration and summoned lightning.

Aang moved with a gust of wind and barely dodged the bolt. Ozai started to smirk and summoned the white fire back. Aang couldn't use the full force that he'd had when he was in the avatar state, but tried never the less and was barely able to avoid the converging attacks in their first assault. He flew around the garden and put up blocks of earth that the tiny flames crashed into, only to be replaced by another a second later. Seeing he could still avoid or block the attacks Ozai started to blast the obstacles with lightning before his fire connected with it.

Aang's fear rose as the fireballs got closer and closer, "I can't do this, he's too strong." He thought miserably, "No, I just need another idea." He had one in a second and erected another obstacle. It was promptly blown up, but he wasn't behind it.

Aang sat under the ground trying to calm himself down. The only way he'd be able to win was if he could go back into the avatar state. He started to feel the ground rise in temperature just as he'd calmed down and he blew a hole through the layer of magma above him and blew a good portion of it towards Ozai.

Ozai spun around and drew fire from the magma as it passed him, which was hurled even faster at Aang. Aang stomped his foot and the earth jumped up to head level to block the fire. As soon as it descended again Aang had reentered the avatar state. It was also that second that the bolt of lightning shot towards him. He reacted in a split second and felt the energy course through him. He moved his arms and felt the energy pass through him and back out, towards the Fire Lord.

Ozai figured out what he was doing a second before he executed the technique and jumped out of the way in a pitiful bid for freedom. It didn't work and blood splattered across the ground. He landed in a heap and rolled to a stop. He didn't try to rise and flopped painfully into a sitting position.

Aang advanced towards him slowly, but he was safe. Ozai was crying and cringing where he was and holding the blasted form of his good arm, seemingly uncaring to the fact that Aang was standing in front of him. He stopped slowly and raised his head slowly until he was looking Aang in the face.

"You'll turn yourself over to the White Lotus now." Aang said in as commanding voice as he could muster.

Ozai started to smile and broke out in laughter a moment later, "You don't have it in you to kill!" Ozai's face displayed an evil smile, "Make me." He whipped his functioning arm around as fast as he could, lightning trailing his path.

Aang only had time to do the one thing he could think of and he did. He raised his hand and he felt the gust of wind.

--

Rayk looked back at the beginnings of the fight between Aang and Ozai and paused long enough to stop Sokka.

"What are you doing? We gotta go, he'll be fine!" Sokka went so far as to tug on Rayk's cape to get his attention.

"Has he ever killed anyone outside of the avatar state?" Rayk's question was blunter than most of Toph's.

"What? Eh, no he hasn't. Oh, that's going to be a problem isn't it." Sokka stood beside Rayk as Aang reappeared behind Ozai after dodging the fireballs.

"No it won't be. He'll get the job done. Stay here though, he's going to need some help afterwards." Rayk hadn't broken eye contact from the fight the whole time. Now he turned and left towards the door that Zuko had just opened after fiddling with all the locks.

"What do you mean?" Sokka called to Rayk's retreating form.

"You'll know it when you see it." Rayk called back over his shoulder.

--

Only one word came to Sokka's mind when he saw the fight end and he muttered it underneath his breath, "Shit." He ran back down the stairs and crouched down beside Aang's quivering form.

From the back you could only tell he'd been in a fight. The front was stained completely red. Nothing remained of Ozai, only a deeper puddle of blood. Aang had dropped to his knees but since hadn't moved.

"Aang, you're okay. It's alright." Sokka was grasping at straws and he could tell what he was saying wouldn't be helping all that much. Aang didn't even appear to have heard him though. He was still staring straight towards where Ozai had been; he hadn't even blinked as far as Sokka was aware.

"AANG! SNAP OUT OF IT!" Shock to counter shock figured Sokka as he shouted in Aang's ear. It did something because Aang outdid him as he let out an agonizing scream. The scream seemed to still everything, all sounds stopped.

What seemed like an eternity later the scream stopped and Aang seemed to come back to earth, he blinked at least and his breathing stopped being so shuddery.

Sokka slowly uncovered his ears, "Aang? Are you okay?" He knew it was a stupid question as he was saying, but he still asked. Aang looked him in the face like he was going to answer and started coughing. He spit out more blood. Sokka cringed in sympathy.

Aang still didn't say anything and it was making Sokka worry, "Aang, can you hear me?"

"I'm never doing that again." Although Aang was facing Sokka it was directed towards him.

"Okay, do you see me at least? Give me something!" Sokka was getting a little annoyed at being ignored.

"Yes, I can hear you Sokka." It was without emotion.

"Okay, let's get you cleaned up." Sokka picked Aang up and took most of his weight.

"I miss Katara." A tiny bit of emotion was there and it gave Sokka a little hope Aang was going to be okay.

"Yeah, I do. We'll see here soon though, so just bear it." Sokka had walked Aang to a pond at the other end of the garden. It was only faintly tinted red, barely noticeable.

Aang fell forward into the water and the pond went red. He bended the water and placed himself back on shore. Another few movements and he drawn the water out of his clothes. He grimaced as he pulled something that had punctured his shoulder: a tiny piece of bone.

"You know, if you have any other body parts to get rid of can you tell me now?" Sokka was starting to feel woozy. It didn't help that he could see the burn on Aang's hand and back and the renewed blood stain coming from his shoulder.

"Do we have anywhere for me to actually get cleaned up?" Aang's voice actually held note reluctance, like he would just be nuisance to them if he did go.

"Now I miss Katara." Sokka muttered. He didn't have any idea where there were people to help Aang and they were grounded her unless they went all the way to the other side of the palace so they could fly out. Aang's wounds weren't very serious, but he didn't know how they would fair if they weren't dressed.

"It's okay. They aren't bad, I've had worst." Aang put a smile on his face, though Sokka could tell it was fake.

Sokka couldn't see any other option so he went with it, "Okay, but if we find anyone that _I_ think is a threat in the palace you're sitting it out." Aang nodded and they went back up into the palace to try and catch up with the others.

--

Things weren't going as smoothly as Rayk would have liked. They were having far more opposition that he'd planned on, but it didn't matter. He couldn't think of anyone in the palace that could stand up to them so they were really just nuisances.

Ty-Lee took care of most of the guards by either hitting them so hard they wouldn't move for the next week, or knocking them out with the weight at the end of her braid which she used with eerie precision.

Any of the nobles or ministers that either didn't know what was going or were trying to hide were rounded up and placed in rooms that were promptly locked so they couldn't leave. On the whole, it was a lot less exciting than Rayk had thought. The others had the same mind as him too. Azula had taken to yawning every five minutes or so to remind him that she'd barely needed to raise a finger since they'd entered the palace.

That changed when they cleared their first floor of its occupants. It seemed that a few important people had figured out what was happening and had gathered the best the palace had around them for protection.

They had barricaded the flight of stair to the next floor with the royal guards (the guys with three eye holes in their mask) and had various other notable kinds of guards farther in. Needless too say Azula stopped yawning, but she still acted quite bored.

They'd stopped at the foot of the stairs after being surprised by the guards who'd attacked like they'd been expecting them.

"All right, who has dibs on the first batch?" Rayk looked from face to face, looking for the answer there.

Everyone turned to Azula, "I'm holding out for more of a challenge. Let Zuko have them." Flippant as usual, it angered Zuko.

"Fine, someone back me up in case they have other surprises." He was able to yell it at Azula and not at the rest of them somehow. He got up and walked in front of the stairs, which were immediately filled with fire. Zuko wound up and shot his own blast to counter it. He side stepped away from the stairs until the blast was done then ran up before the smoke cleared.

The rest of them followed him up a second later. He'd already decked three and was beating back another seven with relative ease. They hadn't caught on to attack at once and were still attacking in twos and threes. Within a minute all of them were scattered around the landing on their backs or similar positions.

The landing was spacious and held to hallways to the left and right of it. The most prominent feature it held were the giant doors directly ahead.

"Think they're in the throne room?" Ty-Lee asked innocently.

"Do we have to answer that?" Mai asked in her drawl.

Zuko did, "They'll definitely be there. It has side entrances for servants and plenty of places to hide. It's where I'd be." He walked forward towards the doors and gave them a push.

Arrows flew toward the door and Azula incinerated them before they got anywhere near Zuko. Three shadows emerged from the blaze and landed deftly in the middle of the group.

There eyes fell on Rayk and their faces slowly turned to disappointment, "We're going to need to have a talk Rayk."

Rayk smirked at them, "I get the feeling by talking you mean trying to kill each other." He looked over their shoulders at his friends, "You guys go on ahead. I need to _chat_ with some old colleagues."

"They won't last five minutes in there." A man on his right growled. His skin looked like it had vines underneath it.

Rayk was genuinely surprised, "Do you see who you're talking about here? The only thing we're missing is the avatar and that's only because he's fighting someone else right now!"

"I see and I'm not all that impressed. Hurry up, I have other things to do today." A tall woman with hair the colour of pitch said in a threatening voice.

"Who are these people?" Ty-Lee asked innocently.

Zuko was taking a look at them and he realized who the woman was, she seemed to notice this, "You finally recognized me! Looks like your brain's still working after all. You know I never got my gold."

Rayk was getting a little exasperated, "Look, you technically worked for him you had to do it anyways." He turned around to Zuko and the others, "Get going, I can handle these guys!" He waved them away like they were little kids and for most of them it worked.

"Don't lose." Azula muttered before she turned and followed the rest of them.

"Jun, Toshiro, Kase, it was a pleasure working with when I did, sorry it has to be this way." Rayk intoned as he bowed low as if welcoming them.

Toshiro hauled an oversized sword off his back that he had to use two hands to use, "Not as much you will be."

Jun let her whip unravel to the ground, "Could you try being original for once, or is that too difficult for you?"

Kase unsheathed a noble looking sword, "Give him some slack, he's saved your ass on more than one occasion."

"Did you guys always talk this much?" Rayk asked mockingly. This got their attention and the blades on his gauntlets flashed out and he held the halberd at the ready.

"Nostalgia for you." Jun muttered as her whip shot forward.

--

Instinct's Info: Jun will be explained next chapter. Sorry for any of you that thought the story might mellow out. It's pretty much like this until the end.


	27. Right Hand Man

Instinct's Info: Okay, the updates should be more constant, though not as quick as this one. I'm definitely giving this chapter an in depth revision as I feel I could do a lot with it but don't have the energy right now after just recovering the bulk of my chapters and the like from the missing USB (thank god I found it!) and am still piecing together the outlines for book four and a few other fic ideas I have. Speaking of which once this story is revised I reach an impasse. I have Naruto fic that looks promising alongside this series ssoooo... should I give this a break and try it out or continue this series? It's all up to you people!

Legalities: It's a Fanfic! Do you think I own anything pertaining to the show?

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Right Hand Man

Rayk extended one of his gauntlets to meet Jun's whip with an outstretched hand. It coiled around and he balled his hand up and withdrew it before the whip could tighten. Toshiro's sword came down a moment later and Rayk caught it off his halberd and threw it off to the side before the full force of the blow hit him. He continued to swing the halberd around and forced Kase to jump back before it hit him.

Rayk never stopped the halberd moving and it kept the three of them at bay, much to their consternation.

"So how long were you spying on Zuko?" Rayk asked jovially to Jun. She was easy to piss off and if he got her mad he could get a hit in on her.

"Your father knew Zuko had found the avatar so I was there to take him if that idiot actually caught him."

"And instead you got your ass kicked something fierce. Funny how that worked out." Rayk grinned devilishly at her. Jun gave a yell and charged at him, whip flailing out in front. Rayk spun around her and swung the halberd low, aiming for the back of her knees. It was jarred to a stop later by Toshiro's sword. Before he could react to the new development Toshiro had smashed him in the face with a giant fist that sent Rayk head over heels. He rolled to a stop in time to see Kase with his sword ready to spear him.

Rayk threw his hand up to block the lunge and cried out. The sword had hit a seam and caused the metal to jab painfully into the skin underneath. Rayk swallowed the pain and kicked Kase's legs out from underneath him.

Rayk jumped to his feet ignoring the pain in his hand and shunted another massive blow from Toshiro away from his head. His halberd continued around and the flat of the blade connected with Toshiro's face with a resounding smack.

Rayk tried o pull the sword back around for another strike and found he couldn't move it. Jun had her whip around it. A second later Kase charged at him and was blocked by the gauntlet's blade. Rayk was able to defend himself against the two until Toshiro rejoined them. He stopped trying to block the behemoth's attacks and only focused on countering Kase's, who blocked each one flawlessly.

Jun gave violent pull on her whip just as Toshiro sent his blade towards Rayk. Rayk barely dodged it and the whip was cut in two accidently. He stumbled away because of it and barely managed to block a lunge from Kase. Before he could recover his balance Toshiro charged him and punched him in the stomach. He was lifted off his feet and Kase sent his sword towards him before he hit the ground. He 

felt a sharp pain erupt in right arm and managed to look at it in despair. The sword was missed the bone and had consequently gone most of the way through.

Kase gave it a nasty twist as he pulled it out and made Rayk give a yell of pain. Rayk gathered what remained of his strength and stood up, barely keeping the halberd up with his one arm.

"I don't think they're much of a threat Aang. But you should still sit this one out." All eyes turned to Sokka who was standing at the top of the stairs.

"You two go get him. I'll finish of the traitor." Kase commanded. The other two held back their comments and advanced on Sokka. Jun held her split whip to the ground so it touched the other half and they sprang back together. Sokka gave it an appraising glance before pulling out the crescent blades. Jun sent the whip cracking towards him and it seemed to evaporate into thin air.

Jun stared, almost dumbly, at the remaining stub of her weapon as tiny scraps of it littered the ground.

"Hope you can piece together!" Sokka said with a sarcastic smile.

He was forced to stop a moment later when Toshiro swung t him. Sokka jumped back, scared of what the giant sword could do to his and waited for it to stop moving. As soon as it did he swung at it and it was cut cleanly in two. Toshiro looked at the stump of a blade for a second before throwing it at Sokka as fast as he could. Sokka pulled a chord hanging from his side and the insignia on the front of his armor jumped off on a spring and deflected the projectile before springing back to his chest.

"And Toph said that was stupid." Her muttered to himself. Toshiro gave an angry yell and charged at him along with Jun. Sokka started to twirl the blades and they stopped in their tracks. Each had at least ten wounds on their body and each place was making a blossom of red on their clothes. Sokka waited second for them to realize that they couldn't win but was mistaken when they both rose for another go.

They were tossed against the wall and fell to the floor unconscious a moment later. Aang stood, propped up against the wall with his staff in one hand, giving Sokka a weak smile.

"You said they weren't a threat and you're way of fighting isn't exactly good for people that don't give up."

Sokka glared at him, "Do you ever listen to my advice?"

"Only when I have to."

Sokka let out a sigh of consternation, "Fine. Hey Rayk, where's everyone else? Rayk?" Sokka looked around, but Rayk was gone.

--

Zuko was inclined to believe what Toshiro had said about them not lasting five minutes in here. The hall was actually _crowded_! There were at least ten different groups and each had a different appearance, though they were predominated by the standard palace guard, so they might stand a chance. There were ten generals standing at the back, grinning madly.

One of the special guards stepped forward, "I know who you are and _trust me_, I'm not being overly confident when I say that if you don' resist we'll make it short and painless." He stuck out like a sore thumb from the rest of the guards because he was wearing blue armor, and it looked like scales.



"We're the Raptors." He spoke again once Azula had stopped laughing, "We're wearing dragon hide so we're impervious to fire. Oh, and don't think that your circus freak and the 'bleh' girl (Ty-Lee and Mai if you can't figure it out) are going to be able to do anything either. We're trained our bodies to their limits."

"Did you ever consider lightning to be a problem with that set up?" Azula asked snidely.

"Do you really think you'll be able to take us all done with it? There's a score (20) of us." Azula paused for a moment. He was right, this could be fun.

A feeling took hold of Zuko and a new move miraculously sprung into his head, "Leave them to me." Zuko voice was perfectly calm. He took out his broadswords and went into a form even Azula didn't know. He moved his arms and lightning started to bounce up and down the length of the swords as he went through the forms for lightning. He brought the swords together in a different manner than normal and the lightning seemed to repel from the swords and hang between them.

The Raptors charged and the lightning shot out above their heads and forked, catching every one of the Raptors in the chest and throwing to them ground in a bloody mess.

"How did you do that?" Shock and, if you knew where to look and you looked very hard, a little awe was in Azula's question.

"His aura's set when he does that." Ty-Lee answered and added, "It means that he' really good at it. Yours is like that whenever you fire bend, not as much when you use lightning." Azula's expression didn't change at all.

There was a roar a second later that snapped their attention back to where they were. The small army that occupied the throne room had started to move towards them.

"You know, I never thought you'd catch up to me. Let's see if you actually did." Azula gave him a small smile before running headlong into the mass of guards, sending them flying like bowling pins a moment later with a tremendous blast of fire. Mai quickly unloaded all of her knives and plunged into the fray after Ty-Lee who was already dropping guards like she was MLB all star against a swarm of piñatas. Zuko almost lost his calm when he went after them. He had to remind himself to remain calm or else the one thing that would guarantee him making it through this insanity would disappear.

--

Rayk slid his working gauntlet's blade from Kase's body and stumbled down the hallway. He was in a bad way and he knew it. A slash along his calf, a deep stab wound in his right arm, a battered face from Toshiro and a destroyed gauntlet stuck on his hand that had punctured the skin long time ago.

He didn't know where he was going and to be honest with himself, he didn't know why he was away from Sokka and the others anyway. There were almost definitely guards in the rest of the palace and in the shape he was in a toddler could've taken him down.

Still, something was pulling him down the hallway and it was beyond him to resist it right now. He was coming up to a door and he was getting ready to either bluff his way through its occupants or find a safe refuge to try and heal himself as much as he could. More than likely it would be his grave in either case.



That thought was pushed from his mind a second later by the never ending drive to continue towards the door. As he got closer he started to hear two voices in it so he stole himself to try and appear ready for a fight.

When the voices were clear enough to hear he knew something was wrong. One: they were arguing, and two: they were both inhuman voice, he even knew one of them. He managed to raise his hand and painfully pushed the door inward and stumbled into the room, the drive to move forward disappearing as he did so.

There was an extra person room he noted immediately and he now knew two of the three beings in the room. Hannya stood closest to the door in the form of a human, though there was disconcerting about it. There were tattoos running all the way done his arms that never stopped. Weird designs that almost made it seem like you could see inside him because of hem.

Across the room there was cloaked figure that was the source of the other voice and standing directly beside him was Rayk's father who already had a frown on his face at the sight of his son in both senses (presence and visual).

The cloaked figure didn't acknowledge Rayk and continued on talking like he wasn't even there, "You should just give up now. You're weaker than a pup-munk and there isn't anything you can do to stop me even if you weren't."

"I didn't come here to fight you or stop you. I came here to make you comply with the rules you _should _be following. You are only allowed to influence one person and you're one over your limit. You even overstepped the rules when you used your one influence. You will either remove these now or I will do it for you." Hannya's voice was like he worked for a government organization that held all the cards. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

The cloaked figure let out an eerie laugh before speaking, "You may be intelligent but you seem to be blind! I would only break the rules if I could avoid the repercussions and these two aren't the only ones! I suggest you leave before you and your little friend there try my patience further."

Rayk leaned towards Hannya, "What's going on?" The tattoos on Hannya's arms seemed to spring to life and shone with a bluish light.

There was a sharp intake of breath around the room when it happened and all eyes locked on Rayk which made him want to get out of there something fierce.

"Take care of Hannya, that'll be enough to take out his anchor." The cloaked figure was pointing a shaky wrinkled hand at Hannya and Jericho immediately sprung into action.

One of the ways Jericho had been influenced was a little information about spirits which had somehow led him to invent a way to seal spirits in almost anything. Not that it didn't have problems, the most obvious one being that he hadn't actually tried it yet, the second largest being that he didn't know any of the side effects or repercussions; whereas Hannya already had a _very _good idea.

"Rani. Tasuin. Jinat." Jericho spoke them calmly with his hands with his arms outstretched, hands crossed, making something that resembled a cup with them. The cloaked figure reached and placed a finger on Jericho. Patterns like Hannya's tattoos flashed across Jericho for a second and focused into the palm of his hand.



Hannya started to smirk again and grabbed Rayk by the arm and moved out of the lights path. It shot forward a moment later and hit Hannya's arm that was holding Rayk's wounded one. Rayk felt a great pain and fell to the floor when he managed to open his eyes Hannya was beside him and Rayk's arm no longer hurt.

Hannya stood up without apparent effort, "You lost the battle, good luck with the war though." He reached across and grabbed Rayk with his signature smirk returning. It was because of that Rayk noticed he was missing an arm. Rayk looked at his own arm ad noticed it had the same tattoos that Hannya use to have on his missing arm.

Hannya seemed to pull a cloak out of midair and wrapped both of them in it. Rayk lost all sight of the room and even felt the floor disappear from his feet.

"I can't stay here much longer, I'll explain everything later. Get fixed up in the mean time and try to restrain my arm, would you?" The cloak disappeared a moment later and he fell through the air to fall with thud on the head of the last guard of the throne room.

"Found him!" Ty-Lee' voice seemed to echo from somewhere far away yet he could see her standing over him. He saw more people crowd around him.

Azula's voice cut through the clouds in his head, "Idiot, I said not to die." Even with the blood loss finally taking its toll on him Rayk could tell her expression held worry, heck, even Zuko noticed it! He was picked up by someone outside his vision, or what he guessed was his vision at this point. He couldn't really see much anymore.

Azula hefted Rayk's body as softly as she could which wasn't the greatest since this sort of action was entirely new to her. He grew a tranquil smile in his unconscious state and she let herself mimic it slightly before following the rest of the group out of the throne room d back into the palace proper.

Any remaining guards in their way probably thought they suffered a severe stroke because they lasted under a second against the group no matter their number. Zuko and Mai pushed the oversized (and by now slightly debilitated) front doors of the palace open and proceeded down the flight of stairs that led to the winding stone path that started from the stairs to the outside world.

Upon their appearance the guard towers on either side gave a clank and giant gun barrels swivelled to face them. A faint glow started to come from deep in them and everyone could guess what was coming next.

"Go for the aiming gears on either side! It'll skew the aim so it doesn't hit us!" Aang heard Zuko's idea and disregarded it because Aang had somehow kept his cool, whereas Zuko had thin beads of sweat dripping down his face. Come to think of it, everyone did. Aang didn't bother with the gears and sent to boulders from the ground straight up the barrels where they became lodged.

A moment later a thundering explosion deafened them and Azula nearly dropped Rayk to cover her ears. The gun barrels could've past for modern art and were about as useful and the tops of each tower had been blown neatly from the foundations and had landed somewhere on the other side of the wall.

With the only threat gone they proceeded along the path and out of the palace and where met with a new problem: how to find their side in the chaos. There were still innumerable people running around like decapitated chickens and others were chasing them like wolves that had been watching the decapitation from the shadows.



A few minutes after cautiously wading through the sea of chaos that the city had become Captain Fong seemed to appear seemingly out of thin air. He took one look at Rayk's bleeding body and motioned for them to follow. Within minutes the walls of the crater rose up before them and a small camp was at the base. There were holding cells scattered throughout the cap that had politicians and nobles in them promising wealth and power to anyone that released them. It might have worked if everyone hadn't been blatantly ignoring them.

"That tent has a healer in it. He'll get priority, don't worry." Fong started to walk away but kept his eyes on Rayk's bleeding form with obvious regret in his eyes. Azula entered the tent which was surprisingly roomy, and quite vacant.

"Set him down over there deary." The water bender didn't seem to realize who was holding the wounded. Then again, her hair was dishevelled and the expression on her face wasn't one most people had ever seen on her. Her face wasn't framed anymore by the short pieces of hair she'd allow to fall on either side of her face and the topknot had almost come out.

The water bender lifted Rayk gently out of her arms and put him down, almost with reverence, on a small circle surrounded by a ringlet of water. Some the water rose up and the healer started to work on sealing his wounds.

She moved up to his arm to look for wounds and almost lost her balance. The arm had turquoise designs running down its length. When she tried to gently put the water back on it the colour changed to a dark red and the slashes all over his body glowed brilliantly with the same colour for a brief time before fading. As soon as it happened Rayk shot up from where he'd been laying.

His eyes took a long time to focus and when they finally did his cheeks bulged outwards and he leaned farther forwards and let out a mouthful of bile; most of it landing in the ringlet of water.

His eyes focused on that and he seemed to consider it but apparently wasn't, "Sorry about that...Azula." He took his time adding the last bit which had her thinking he was talking about the vomit in the water for a moment. Once he'd spoken he fell back with his chest beating far more evenly.

The healer was beside him in a second checking him out, "He seems to just be exhausted now. Did you know he could do that?" The question had been obvious but it still took a while for Azula to get her wits around her; the spectacle had made worry and hope start to fight inside of her.

"No, I didn't." The rest of the group filed in a moment later, each acquiring a look of surprise when they saw Rayk totally uninjured.

"He's got some explaining to do when he gets up." Sokka murmured and went so far as to try and poke the tattoos that wound their way done Rayk's arm. He stopped when Azula gave him a warning glare. He couldn't have stopped faster if he'd been poking an angry Shirshu.

--

There weren't many people in the palace and most of them were locked in rooms without any way to get out. This didn't slow Jericho down at all at soon he had a group numbering in the twenties around him.



"We are all that remains of the rightful rulers of the world!" He made his voice as big and powerful as he could, "We were cheated of victory because we permitted a fool to lead us! I am no fool and found an ally to help us in our quest to regain that which we have lost!"

A ripple of excitement went through the crowd and Jericho continued, "This victory will be a long time coming, but it is inevitable because we will not be wiped out like the rest and it will be our perseverance that will become our greatest weapon. Follow me and the Fire Nation will truly rule the world." He could have said anything to them and they would've followed him. It did help that Syh-Shen had made a little more 'convincing'.

The first part of the plan was done and he allowed himself a small smile. The core was established for Fallen Fire.

--

Instinct's Info: Please tell me what you think of it. I've got a million people marking this as a fav of theirs, but not a single review to be had! Please give me one! I'll give you a cookie...well, maybe just a picture of one since I don't any of you're actual addresses.


	28. The Big Guns

Instinct's Info: Sorry it took so long to get this up. Avatarfrek35 is beta-ing and I got bored of not writing so here's the rough. Please be gentle in the reviews I _know_ you'll give because I know this chapter needs a revision to be up to snuff with the others. I'll start on the next one soon.

Disclaimer: This is a fanfiction. Look up the definition if you don't know.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Big Guns

Have you ever been aware that you were unconscious, like when you were having a dream and you're saying to yourself, "I know this is a dream."? That was exactly what was happening to Rayk as he lay off to the side of the healer's hut with Azula sitting next to him. The others would have been there too, but were out with a few search parties from White Lotus seeing if they had missed anyone in the Crater.

Just like in a dream, though, Rayk wasn't _exactly_ in his right mind. He could think, but not with the same coherency that he normally could. Right now he was growing irritated at a nagging voice that wouldn't go away even though he knew it was Hannya trying to tell him something.

"If you would stop telling me where I can stuff my advice I'd like to try and tell you how to use my arm." Rayk's brain decided it would process at least the key words of the sentence and Rayk recovered a little of his mind.

"What do you want?" Rayk was a tad surprised by his voice. It was sleepy when he was asleep, a tad obvious, but still unexpected.

"Good, I have your attention. My arm is acting like a magnifying glass for the little spiritual power that humans have so you can actually do something with it now. You'll be able to perform some simple tricks like giving someone a momentary insight into something they're thinking about. You'll also have a little link to that person for it's duration since your power is inside of them. This can be applied to humans, which will most likely not be very effective since your minds are more complex, animals which could let you communicate briefly, and plants so that they grow faster or something similar. Got all that?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure." He'd only been able to even hear about half of it with his mind slipping back into the dazed state he'd been in before.

"Good, then I'll leave you alone to wake up." Hannya's voice disappeared.

* * *

Rayk woke up after an indefinite amount of time. He panicked for a second, not knowing how long he'd slept and whether Lanorit's invasion was in progress. He almost got up, but decided against it because of where he was laying. Azula had laid his head in her lap like a pillow and was asleep. Rayk could just make out the minute lines of worry on her face as she slept. He also noticed that it was still tinged with light outside. This, coupled with lack of dew, meant that it was just turning to night.

Then his eyes seemed to refocus of their own accord and Azula started to _glow_. The red glow around her surprised him and he shifted before he could control himself. She stirred and stretched like a cat waking up from a nap in the sun.

Rayk smirked at her from below, "Have a good nap?"

She returned the smirk with her own and didn't say anything. She just stared at him with the smirk turning into a normal smile.

"You know you're glowing, right?"

Azula's smirk returned, "Don't think that I'm quite _that_ happy that you're awake."

Rayk looked at her, puzzled, "No, you're glowing, _literally_." This was met by a blank stare as she glanced at her arm for a second to confirm that Rayk had probably suffered a head trauma.

"What happened to you?" Azula's question held a note of disbelief, "You disappeared before Sokka could help you and then you fell out of no where in the middle of the throne room." She left out the part about his wounds glowing since his answer would probably explain that anyway, at least, that's what her hunch said.

The memories of the spirit's conversation came back to him with full clarity, "I think I had Hannya's arm sealed in place of my own. While I was unconscious he told something about it acting as a magnifying glass. That would explain why I'm slash free right now."

"Mind explaining that?"

"Well, when Katara heals anything she's using some kind of energy since water doesn't make cuts vanish normally. I would guess that this would a minute amount of spiritual power amplified by her bending. Since my whole arm acts as the magnifier it would accelerate the healing. My body knew to heal itself so it happened subconsciously." Azula continued to stare at him, not knowing how he could come to these conclusions so quickly.

Rayk was spared the inquisition going on any longer by the others coming into the tent.

"Whoa! Zuko, turn down the flame please!" The request earned Rayk a look of unease from everyone in earshot.

One person wasn't surprised by this how however. Ty-Lee gave a squeal of excitement, "You can see it too now!"

"See what? Zuko glowing like a burgundy sun?" Rayk asked, shielding his eyes from the light supposedly coming from Zuko.

"You get used to it. Pretty soon it won't bother you at all." Now everyone was giving Ty-Lee the same look they were giving Rayk

"He's seeing auras!" Everyone gave a knowing look to Rayk that said he wasn't insane, but he'd joined the ranks of the odd, and in Ty-Lee's case, the outrageously happy.

"Why is Zuko's so big? Everyone else's stays around their body. His practically fills the tent." Ty-Lee shrugged in answer to show she didn't know.

"Because he's the same as you." Iroh was standing by the tent flaps and amid hellos and a few slight gasps at his silent entrance he continued, "The spirit of Lightning took a interest in him for some reason and the human body isn't meant to take that kind of power."

Zuko was partially stunned and more than a little angry with Iroh hiding the fact from him for years, "You knew this and you never told me?"

"It would've only hindered you before. I couldn't tell you when you were still in the palace. Your father would've tried to control you if he'd known your power. You need a thourough grounding in fire before you atempt lightning so there was no point telling you then. When we were in the Earth Kingdom your image of yourself became very confused and if you'd learned then it only would've complocated things. I would've told you when you joined the White Lotus but there was no time."

Zuko's fists were clenched and smoke was coming from them, "So why are you telling this to me now? There's got to be some reason for you to not tell me now too." The bitter sarcasm was only too evident.

"Even with the barricade and Iroh's optimism our prospects for tommorow aren't that good. Better now than not at all." Rayk answered for Iroh, "Also, I believe I can tell you why Shandian (Lightning for the record and no he's not showing up like the others) chose you." Rayk's arm was glowing faintly as a trickle of information was fed to him.

The information annoyed him. Hannya was telling him things on a need to know basis and the 'need to know' was happening every few minutes.

"Hannya suspected the war wasn't completelyf started by humans by the time it spanned three geneartions. He told his suspision to Shandian who gave someone in the royal family some his power so he couldn't be influenced to keep the war going as well as almost guaranteeing that he would become very influential. He overestimated that amount of power that the human body could take and it resulted in you haveing a hard time controlling your power for bending" Rayk paused for a moment and addressed a shimmer in the air which the others had to assume was something they weren't seeing, "And would you stop telling me this stuff a second before I need it?"

The group looked at Ty-Lee for reassurance and she squinted for a while at the haze before nodding.

Zuko calmed down enough for the smoke to stop issuing from his hands, "So what does that mean? I'm going to be healing faster like him?"

"I'm guessing it just means that you have an affinity for lightning over fire." Rayk looked to Iroh for confirmation and got it.

"That's why you were able to use forked lightning in teh throne room." Mai drawled.

"Oh yes, how many more did you find there?" Iroh asked as he remembered where they'd been.

"None, the palace is completely deserted." Sokka was grim.

The expression confused Iroh, "You caught everyone the first time before you evacuated Rayk didn't you?" It wasn't meant to say that Rayk shouldn't have taken priority and thankfully it wasn't.

"No, even the people we captured weren't there. Everyone escaped somehow and there not even in the city anymore."

Iroh's expression grew to match Sokka's, "We'll have to look for them later. We don't have much time to spare."

"You attacked before they were done barricading the harbour?" Sokka asked sceptically.

"No. Getting everyone into position will take some time and not everyone knows their way around the city yet."

"They've lived here most of their lives! How do they not know?"

"Well, Kenji might have frequented the city, but not many of the others did." Sokka barely noticed the sarcastic look that Iroh was giving him before he was out of the tent to look for his mentor.

"So you're going to use the civilian population to thwart an armada that's close to their size as well as taking away the civilians ability to bend." Azula asked, not without a note of sarcasm in it, "Call me a sceptic, but I can't see this ending well."

"Anyone actually trained for combat is being positioned near the docks so if we can use the fortifications to their fullest we should be able defeat most of the armada before anyone inexperienced even needs to take up arms." Everyone trusted Iroh's view of the coming battle implicitly. He had far more experience than any of them did.

"That means all of us too I assume?" Rayk asked calmly. Being the meat shield for the city didn't perturb him at all.

"Yes, with all of us there they shouldn't be able to land anyone for a long time."

"You're forgetting something." Aang's expression was a mix of worry and sadness, it was like that a lot lately, "They have Katara on their side to get the boats onto the docks and Toph can make holes in whatever you've built there."

Iroh seemed to anticipate Aang's question, "Lanorit also knows that you wouldn't harm them so he'll use them as a shield to prevent you going after him. He won't move them off the boats until he's got some men ashore. Even then he might not because then you could go after boat in his fleet."

Rayk seemed use to this sort of answer and disprove sequence and finally got up from his sitting position next to Azula, "Okay, one last hole to poke in your strategy: what about a deep strike? They're earth benders. It'd be really easy for them to get behind us once they manage to land troops. One envelope movement and you're strategy is gone."

"That's why Mai, Ty-Lee and Azula are with the group protecting our back. They're used to working as a team. Zuko and Aang are the most powerful benders so they'll be the ones stopping any landing attempts. You and Sokka will be in the secondary position if anything happens because of your skill at tactics and your ability to keep a level head." Iroh explained, apparently happy that Rayk had pointed out the idea.

"Shouldn't Sokka or me be in the back flank to orchestrate defence in case anything happens?" Suddenly Rayk realized how much pain he'd put Aang by having Katara stay behind. He didn't really realize that Katara and Toph would be in the line of fire. Now knowing that Azula, whom he knew was perfectly capable of defending herself, would be fighting without him made him really anxious.

"They'll be taking out anyone that comes attacks our back, that and only that." Iroh answered simply, "If anyone from the others side shows up they're taken down as quickly as possible. No tactics beyond that." Rayk grudgingly accepted the strategy and barely stopped his head from sagging.

Iroh glanced outside for a second before speaking again, "We should be getting into position now. Our back flank will flag us down to show where they're main defences are. You three I want to shore up the other areas. Sokka, Rayk, and I will be in the field headquarters and Zuko and Aang will be along the pier with our other big guns. Your fist priority is projectiles you two. Don't let anything happen to the barricades. If we can do all that and nothing crazy happens we should be okay."

* * *

Iroh didn't seem to be aware of the annoying little habit that the gaang had of always having something outlandish happen.

This took on the form of Lanorit's unorthodox tactics of the invasion which made Katara very nervous and Toph ready to mash his face in. The entire invasion was a deception on two levels. The first was Lanorit's insurance policy that his sect would only grow because of this invasion. By concealing the fact that an usurpation would occur a day before his own invasion he would make it appear he took down the full fighting force of the Fire Nation in one go.

The reason that had saved Katara and Toph from the silent killing of anyone that had known about Whit Lotus' plan was the fact that Lanorit needed them for the second deception. He would use a deep strike with only them to escort him into the palace. Once cleared he would be able to claim without suspicion taht he had killed the Fire Lord himself. This would only add to his mystique and his sect's by conjuction.

The second deception was the whole seige of the harbour. That was a ruse to keep them occupied until his first deep strike was complete. After that most of his army would tunnel behind the rabble taht Lotus was calling an army and would crush them against the barricades that they were pinning all their hopes on. He hadn't told this to Katara and Toph because they still retained some of there more sympathetic traits for the devils of teh Fire Nation. They might not keep quite about his plan about teh Fire Lord if they knew.

* * *

Instinct's Info: Well that's my revised version. Still waiting on avatarfreak35 for hers. I know I should've started on the enxt chapter but I got hooked on Avengde 7 Fold's Little Piece of Heaven. You try writing a story like this with thos lyrics in your head! Not possible!


	29. Omnipotent

Instinct's Info: I'm really trying to get away from the feeling of -a wizard did it!- type of cop out. f you don't think I managed it then tell me and I'll try to fix it. Second last chapter! You getting exicted, cause I sure am. My craziest ideas and realizations about bending and other stuff are in teh next chapter. Hope you can wait until then! Or maybe you could review to help the the chapter move along faster? Just thinking...

I don't own Avatar; if I did the finale would've been out way sooner!

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Omnipotent

It had been a lucky break that Kenji had been at the secondary position or else Rayk would've had to look for Sokka. As it was, when they got there Sokka was showing Kenji what he could do with the swords now. It was quite a sight, and not just because of the flashy appearance of them both. Their respective armour gave them a certain charisma.

"You're progressing quickly. If we make it through the day you should've shaved a few years off your training." Kenji turned and gave a short respectful bow to Iroh when he saw them coming. He straightened and gave a weak smile.

"We're a beast beat into a corner right now. We stand a better chance than you think." Iroh gave a warm smile, though it was a little more strained than normal, "Zuko, can you show Aang where to go from here?" Zuko nodded confirmation and left without a word, still a little angry for what Iroh kept from him.

The secondary position was located in the center of the flow where there was a wide square with a gold statue of Ozai in it with one of the arms knocked off and some tasteful graffiti on the face. Stairs had been erected to the roofs of the houses bordering the square so that you could see the harbour and the path into the Crater.

Rayk's worry about their back flank prevented him from joining the other three on one of the front houses. Instead he stood watch on the back roof with a frown on his face. Below them people were herded all over to man different defensive positions, most them had a bewildered expression on their face. It only made pall of ill fortune that Rayk was feeling even heavier.

--

Zuko and Aang stood at the front of metal girders that jutted out into the harbour. Behind them there was a large a field that was generally used a fish market. Now it had been narrowed down so that very few people could move through it at once. The towers bordering it had also been reinforced and every inch of wall that was exposed had emplacements for attacking anyone trying to make it through the harbour.

Even beyond that there were catapults and tanks waiting with barricades set up to stop any mechanized move the enemy made. Any sensible general would've called it a death trap if he hadn't known that half of them were being operated by people still reading the instruction manuals.

Aang looked around at this and a tiny spark of hope still lingered in him. If they could keep this they actually stood a chance.

--



"Wait, you want us to actually do what he says?! Sugar Queen, you've lost your mind!" Toph was waving her hands around in exasperation at a point just to the left of Katara.

"We can't give him a reason to doubt us." Katara was staring at the ground shame faced, "He needs to trust us if we're going to stop him before his genocide happens. The others will know that and they'll expect it. We might not even have to fight because of the deep strike." There was false hope in her eyes. Luckily Toph couldn't see it.

"Look, we both know that if we fight the only people that could stop us are Aang and the others and we're not going to be able to do that." Even Toph's levity had disappeared at this point.

"What are you two talking about?" Katara and Toph turned slowly to hide the fact that they were worried that someone might have heard them talking. Suki stood there with an innocent look on her face.

"We're talking about how much I hate this stupid carpet!" Toph kicked the aforementioned flooring with her foot in frustration, "Since when is there _ever_ carpet on a ship?"

"You'll be back on solid land soon. We're almost there. We've spotted shore." Katara sucked in an involuntary breath, "Lanorit wanted to see you both about the first strike. He's in the control cabin."

The door was unlocked and Lanorit stood with his back to them as he stared out the front window at the black line that marked the shore of the Fire Nation.

"I want both of you in the first strike." He didn't turn around to see Katara and Toph swallow nervously.

"If we get a foot hold on their shores they'll be too preoccupied to notice the three of us slipping in behind them. Once we've got a foot hold give control to Suki and return to the ship so we can 'get rid' of the Fire Lord." Now he turned around and gave them a smile. It made them want to puke.

Katara pushed her disgust out of the way, "If we leave the ship the fleet will be attacked. If it goes down we won't be able to have the second deep strike." Hope was pulsing in her chest as she waited for his answer.

"You two will be more than enough to keep them preoccupied, just make sure they have enough on their plate that when we go to the palace they won't be able to take too many hits at the fleet."

Katara nodded acceptance and tapped Toph to tell her that they were going.

As soon as they were out of earshot Toph perked up, "Well, that went better than I thought."

Katara would've given her a blank look but knew it was pointless, "What are you talking about?"

"With Twinkletoes there it aint gonna matter how far we push them back. As soon as we leave they're out of the harbour." Toph had a wide grin on her face. Once she though about it Katara displayed a small one too.



--

The small spark of hope was still in Aang along with a couple million butterflies. The view before him reminded him of the Siege of the North.

'We _did_ win that time though.' He reminded himself. The boats stopped short of the harbour's armaments and you could just here a faint yell as over a hundred boulders were launched into the air simultaneously. The towers on either side of the harbour started pumping out their blasts as well as Zuko who immediately started using his swords for forked lightning.

Aang shook off his shock and noticed the wave of boats coming towards the harbour. An idea sprung into his head and he launched himself from the barricade towards the closest boulder. He broke apart the boulder and sent the pebbles down at the boats like a hail of bullets.

A few of the pebbles succeeded and he could see water spring from the boats. Aang forced himself towards the water faster than normally possible with airbending, causing a small tsunami when he hit. The wave shot outward and tossed the remaining boats into the air like they were part of a coin toss. All except one. The wave crashed around it and it sped towards their first line of defence.

--

"Katara's on that boat!" Sokka yelled in surprise.

Rayk was beside him a second later, "Can someone see if Toph's there too?" It became apparent when one of the boats that had been sinking abruptly stop and continued towards the shore.

"Perfect." Rayk was staring at the fleets of boats with intent in his eyes that made everyone around him shift uncomfortably.

"I'm going to the barricade" Rayk jumped off the roof of the house to the street below.

"Rayk, your place is here!" Iroh called down to him with a note of disbelief in his voice.

"What? I'm not a big gun?" Rayk smiled over his shoulder and flexed his right arm which had the bizarre tattoos glowing up and down its length.

"What is your presence going to accomplish there?" Asked Iroh, still trying to reason with him.

"There are only two reasons that Lanorit would risk putting his protection ashore. One is if he believes that he can win with a frontal charge that never stops moving. He's misguided, not insane, so that's not it. The other reason is to get a foot hold to occupy us. I intend to stop him from fighting on two fronts." Iroh didn't make a further attempt to stop him so Rayk continued towards the harbour, a grin playing on his face. It felt good to outthink someone like that (it really does feel awesome).

--

"Let them land." Zuko almost jumped when Rayk spoke. He hadn't heard him approach.



"Are you insane? If Toph lands the barricade would come down!" Zuko continued his attempts to slow the two remaining boats, one of which had grown a new propeller in the back.

"I need them far away from the fleet. If they're not they might get hurt." Zuko stopped his bending to give Rayk a really confused look.

"Have you ever seen a manta-phant?"

"A what?" Zuko's disbelief only escalated.

"It's a manta ray-elephant. They're the largest and most docile of all sea creatures. They've been known to beach entire fishing fleets by coming to the surface. You should get Aang to help you hold back Katara and Top for a little while. He doesn't have to try hard though. You shouldn't either." Rayk's grin transform into the knowing that Hannya always wore.

"What does that matt..." Zuko stopped midsentence when Rayk cracked his knuckles and pulled back as far as he could with his right hand glowing the whole way. His fist flew forward and a thin beam of faint light shot forward. The water parted momentarily for it to pass through and closed up just as quickly.

Rayk stepped back from the edge of the barricade and waited to see what Katara and Toph would do. If Lanorit was actually stupid enough that he thought he could march right through they'd need to pull Azula and the others at the back forward to end it quickly.

It looked like Zuko might have actually taken his advice. Zuko and Aang were being slowly pushed back by the two females. Rayk had a hard time not laughing at the scene. There had been soldiers on the boats but compared to the power that the four of them had they might as well not even been there. Aang and the others were as close to omnipotence as bending could take them.

With Aang and Zuko preoccupied more boats were being launched and they sped towards the shore with a few being sunk by the towers that lined the harbour.

'Moment of truth.' Rayk muttered to himself. Once this wave got on shore the towers would become their priority. He glanced to both sides and saw people running from them. Iroh had figured it out then. If Toph and Katara stayed past this point Azula and the others would be have to be called forward.

The boats landed and soldiers attempted to run off of them. Instead the first ones stumbled out into knee high water. The water was rising in the front of the armada and displacing a huge amount that flooded the harbour.

The boats caught in the unnatural swell start to tip into their sides like dominoes as the water rushed back into the sea and the capsized boats were left lying on their sides on the back of what appeared to be a giant blue-grey tarp. Then it rippled and the boats at the edge rolled over completely onto their backs and sank slowly into the water. A flare went up a moment later from one of the ships just beyond the manta-phant. Katara reacted immediately grabbed Toph's hand and dragged, almost making her fly off the ground, as she moved back towards the boats.



Rayk had a conflicted smile when Zuko and Aang returned. The towers had come down and the barricade had a hole in it which the White Lotus members were trying to lock down. Rayk started to winder if the tactic might have been double edged. His attention was torn away when the harbour was flooded again, signalling the manta-phant's decent back into the water.

"How did you know that was going to be here?" Zuko asked him as he watched the giant creature disappear in moments.

"They're bottom feeders so this is the perfect place for them. All the volcanic activity makes everything eat from the bottom rich in minerals. It was a guess, but a relatively safe one."

Boats started to come from the remaining fleet to pick up the soldiers that had managed to get out of the ship's belly before they'd tipped and been left in the water. As soon as one of the boats was full it shot towards the harbour making Rayk doubt his idea that Lanorit was going to try something else. He wouldn't send that many men to help at the foot hold if he intended to fight on two fronts. The original idea couldn't be discarded though.

"Zuko, Aang, get down there and help weaken there position, don't force them back. We need to absorb as much of Lanorit's force in this front as possible." Rayk had decided to experiment with the arm. He pointed it at himself and felt the energy flow through it. It felt like a fog was lifted around his head and he could think straighter.

Rayk continued to supply his brain the trickle of power and he started to walk back to the secondary position, 'If this is really the only front Lanorit intends to fight on it that's fine because his numbers won't count for very much. We'll just have to use the earth and water benders that are in the ranks of the White Lotus during the eclipse. So what other front could he possibly choose to fight on? He'd need to trap us somehow if he intends to actually try and kill us all. He might try to push us into the Crater and use the sides as a wall which would explain why he's only fighting on one front right now.'

Sokka jumped down from his vantage point on a roof and landed beside him, "We can't beat him in a hit for hit. Letting the barricade get a hold wasn't a good idea."

"That only helped us Sokka. Their numbers won't count for much so the only thing they have going for them is the eclipse and we have every type of bender with us so even that counts for little. As long as we don't get pushed into the Crater we'll be fine."

"What are you talking about?"

"The whole point of this invasion isn't to beat us, it's to commit genocide, remember?" Rayk asked with a morbid air.

"So the crater would act as a cage for us." Sokka nodded his understanding, then his eyes widened in fear, "Unless that's not the wall they're going to use."

"Sokka there isn't anything to use as a wall in the city beside the Crater's sides."



"We're trying to protect the other one." Rayk expression changed slowly to match Sokka's. The two dashed back to the secondary position, barrelling into the make shift war room that had been constructed in the square.

"Bad news?" Kenji said glumly when he saw their expressions.

"They're going to use a deep strike. They'll come in behind us and crush us against the barricade!" Sokka managed to get out between gulps of air.

Iroh removed himself from the table they were using to model what was going on in the battlefield, "They wouldn't put a hole in the barricade if they intended that." Iroh answered calmly with a little worry underneath it all.

"Fine, we go through and we're trapped against them and the ocean with no way out."

"That doesn't explain the force their pumping in right now."

Rayk stopped for a moment and sent a trickle of power Sokka who immediately brightened, "The only reason he'd do that is to stop us from focusing anywhere else. He's not moving any of his force so it's not getting ready for the strike at our back flank, it's something else, probably involving Lanorit himself or he wouldn't take so many precautions."

"So what is he distracting us from?" Kenji asked hopefully.

"Not a clue."

They sat there trying to think of something until Kenji perked up slightly, "Lanorit wants the world following him right?" He received nods of encouragement, "Well, he's going to need to do something to let him break into the Water Tribes, right?" Again, encouraging nods, "That was it. What is doing to let him do that?"

Sokka grimaced, "We're closer to each other than the Earth Kingdoms population. Our leaders also aren't fanatics so I can't see him being able to do anything for that to happen."

"Well, we should reinforce our back flank at least. We're going to have react to whatever he's planning. I'll take some earth benders to our back to help reinforce our positions." Rayk said it with a sour voice. Being in the dark about anything like this wasn't a good thing.

"You're not just saying that because of whose there, right?" Iroh had managed to role a chiding voice and a serious together. Rayk ignored him and disappeared through the tent flap.

--

The back flank's defences were simple and effective. Metal plates had been bolted into the ground just outside the line of houses and most of the fortifications were made of wood to stop them being destroyed quickly. Mai came out of one of the fortifications with her face as deadpan as ever.



"You're going to be getting some action. Where do you need to reinforce?"

She looked left and right, "The far ends are stretched kind of thin."

"Put them on the far right, we'll move more of our own to the left and protect the center ourselves." Azula had appeared from out of the houses further along the flank. Rayk motioned for the earth benders to go and they shot off along the ground without their feet moving.

"What kind of action are we going to be seeing exactly?" Azula asked, her voice showing she wanted a challenge.

"The kind they're getting at the front right now." Rayk answered bluntly.

"Well, I'm not going to be bored at least." Mai said as she headed back towards her fortification.

"Hey, Rayk?" Ty-Lee seemed to be coming out of a day dream as she said it, "Do you see that?"

Rayk looked where she was pointing and saw a patch of colour moving along the ground. The patch continued oblivious to it's observers towards the Crater.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"There're people under the ground." Ty-Lee replied happily without apparent reason.

Rayk focused on the patch and it separated into three patches, blue, black and green.

"That's Toph and Katara which means the black bit is Lanorit." Rayk thought out loud which got him a couple of startled expression from anyone in ear shot.

"Ty-Lee, stay here. If you see this again get the earth benders and attack them before they leave the ground." Rayk was already moving towards the palace.

--

Rayk stood in front of the door to the throne room for the second time in as many days. He'd followed the small group with little effort since Toph was hardly likely to rat him out. He cracked the door open slightly and peered in.

Lanorit was systematically taking down each flag of the Fire Nation in the room. Toph waved for him to enter while Lanorit was still facing away from the door. He sprinted across the room and slid to a stop behind one of the pillars and shunting a few of the bodies out of the way. A second later Lanorit finished one side of the room and turned around to start on the other.

Rayk cursed under his breath at his position now. He'd been hoping to ask if Katara or Toph had a way to get him to spare the lives of the Fire Nation population. He made due with making sure they did. He waved his arms in the air so Toph would 'see' him. She turned in his direction to show she was paying attention. He started to mouth his message, hoping that she could see well enough to get his message.



It seemed that she did because she moved so he had a clear shot. He arm glowed for a second then Toph nodded her head to show that she had an idea. Rayk slipped towards a side exit, praying his foot falls didn't echo in the huge chamber.

Lanorit finished a short while later and turned to the two in the room with him, "Now to lead the second deep strike and return these people to where they came."

Toph breathed deeply for a second to steady herself before starting her charade, "Wait, you're sending them back?"

"I'm well aware you two have some humanitarian tendencies so"

"You're weak." Toph made the interruption as blunt as she possibly could, which was considerable.

"What?" Lanorit stumble for the first time in memory.

"You're just going to show them off to their home after they ravaged the world and _destroyed _an entire civilization? If you can't stomach punishing hem then leave it to me and Suki!" Katara had seemed shocked and was about to speak when she realized what Toph was doing and remained quite with a barely concealed smile on her face at the simplicity of the idea.

Lanorit paused to digest the biting comment before he asked, "What did you have in mind?"

Toph let a smile spread lowly across her face for having Lanorit buy her idea, though he thought the same thing in a different way, "The world practically belongs to you. Make this nation's life truly miserable before you end it. I leave the details to you; your mind's more creative than mine is."

"Very well, but let us take down there numbers first. It will be easier to round them up if there aren't as many. You two should help with this. You're the only ones who can stand up to Aang." He motioned for them to follow amid a sweep of his deep green robe, "Their torture will begin immediately afterwards."

--

Instinct's Info: Okay, so you know, this book aint ending on an up note. The next one will I promise. The torture he's talking about barely made it in here. Just be forewarned you're going to be sickened by how simple it is. Oh, and yes, review, please, I just _know_ you were going to anyways. sarcasm, cough, cough, sarcasm


	30. The Long Fall

Instinct' Info: Truth be told, there is an epilogue to the story. I really had a good time writing this story and I'd really like to thank Lad Ba Sing Se, Hint, and Ballisticrime for the multiple reviews and to everyone else who simply dropped me a line about the story. Count yourselves lucky forgetting this as soon as you did. I'm amazed I got a connection where I am and even more amazed I kept it long enough to get this up and posted. So please review the story! It's the final chapter for god sake! Do you really need a better opportunity?

Disclaimer: Reference **any** other chapter in the story. I'm done writing them for a while.

Chapter Thirty: The Long Fall

Things were forming a stale mate at the barricades. Sokka watched it all through a telescope and his stomach lurched for the umpteenth time when he saw Suki directing the army to strike at their weak spots. Ever since Rayk had made the choice to sacrifice the barricade for half the armada there had been a constant stream of soldiers from the remaining fleet.

But now it was becoming increasingly obvious that they were up to something not related to smashing through the barricade. A commanding officer somewhere had though that the siege would last through to dark so numerous tents had been set up throughout the harbour right up to the water's edge.

The odd part was that despite the increased number of boats coming in the number of troops coming to their front line was diminishing. Even Suki seemed to have disappeared. This meant one thing: Rayk had been right and they were preparing for a deep strike and using the bunking tents as cover. When that thought occurred to Sokka he'd left Iroh in charge of the front and left to make sure things weren't already too late in the back.

Rayk was back from whatever he'd been doing instead of coming back to their secondary position and was staring at the ground with a dark grimace on his face. The same expression was the same on Ty-Lee's face which really made Sokka worry.

"What's wrong?" Sokka asked after making his way through the group of spectators that were watching the pair try to stare the ground into submission.

"The ground started glowing from here up to the entrance to the Crater." Rayk answered without moving his eyes form the ground, "Tell everyone to get back and dig in." He shook his gaze from the ground and started yelling the crowd to get back. Others took his lead and the crowd started to disperse back into heir bunkers.

"So what were you doing back here? Hopefully not socializing with someone." The sarcasm was meant to lighten the mood ad Sokka was well aware that it was needed.

It didn't take, "Katara, Toph and Lanorit were at the palace. I followed them and Toph should have made the move that should stop him killing all of us. From the look of things now, I'm betting it didn't take." Rayk took a deep breath and started to think out loud so Sokka could help him if he needed it, "Lanorit is assuming that we can't see the army he's gathering below us. He'll come down from the Crater like he's back from a stroll and sick them on us. Any problem with that thinking?"

"Yeah: us. If we're here he'll know something' up. He'll run and we could lose second chance at making a stale mate."

"Okay, we don't leave anything to chance then. We hide and once he's distracted with the mayhem we go in and nab him. End of invasion." Rayk turned to go into the fortifications with Sokka right behind him.



Aang fell from the sky and landed with the litheness of a cat, "We're retaking the barricades!" He paused for a second and glanced at the number of people placed everywhere, "Why is everyone back here?"

"Knowing your timing, give it a second and you'll find out." Rayk answered with a tiny smirk. As if on cue Lanorit came into view ad raised his hand like someone about to start a race. The next he flung it down and the ground from him to the rear flank turned to dust.

Suki voice came through the dust cloud, "Fire!" Less than a second later a hail of arrows and other projectiles screamed through the dust knocking everyone not in a fortification dead before anyone could register what was happening. Then a tide of bodies surged out of the hole and flew into the city.

The tide of soldiers didn't wholly concern themselves with the fortifications facing them and continued into the city, striking at anyone in their way. As more and more came though the fortifications began to be targeted. More than one of these attempts ended in a quick fire blast and a lifeless body.

Rayk would've been more concerned if Sokka and Aang hadn't been guarding the door way and he hadn't been confused. If Lanorit intended to use the barricades against them then why on earth was he spreading his force into their own so much? It was only a matter of time before their own force overcame the chaos this would produce and they'd band back together. His was larger and would take longer for this to happen. He'd have huge chunks of his men slaughtered before they could back to any central point.

The only explanation made Rayk's blood run cold. He was just cutting down their numbers. He would use the remains for a 'righteous genocide' as he'd probably call it and whip the world into a fever pitch so everyone would follow him. He'd have won after that.

"Okay, Lanorit's open!" Sokka yelled from the doorway.

"We're not going after him!" Rayk called after him and Sokka stopped to turn a questioning gaze at him from the outside of the doorway.

"Why not? Wouldn't that end everyth" Sokka never got a chance to finish as someone very narrowly missed him with a short katana. He whirled around and saw Suki with a hateful stare winding up for another strike. Within a second he' disappeared into the melee.

Rayk didn't pause to consider Sokka's chances and started thinking of a plan for a rally, "Aang, you're going to need to launch me." Truthfully, the idea wasn't fully formed; Rayk just knew he had to get to the front line to gather together most of their forces that were scattered by the oncoming tide of Earth Kingdom soldiers.

"What am I supposed to do?" Aang asked, voice almost panicking.

"Keep Katara busy so she doesn't have to deal with anyone else. She's not prone to random destruction like Toph is; she'll have a harder time hiding the fact she's not trying." They were outside the next second and Aang threw Rayk skyward on pillar of rock and a gust of wind at his back to push him on his way. It wasn't until moments after the launch that either of them thought about the landing.

Rayk hung in the air, considering his options. The list was decidedly shorter than he would have liked. There were essentially two options. One was simply to fall and pray that he landed on something soft; not his prime choice, but the more likely of the two. The other was that something would happen that would slow his fall enough close enough to the ground that he wouldn't break anything. Either way, the thing that was going to save him right now was luck.



Aforementioned luck took on the odd form of the soldiers moving through city. A large group of the tumbled straight into the secondary position and were faced with the troops that were being diverted from the frontline where they were no longer needed. A few of the Earth Kingdom soldiers reacted immediately and the houses rimming the square shattered and were thrown into the air to spread confusion in the enemy ranks.

A sizeable roof managed to retain its form as it flew upwards and crossed into Rayk's descent. Rayk bounced off it, his whole body screaming from the impact. It did slow him down enough and his luck continued to hold as he did land on something soft before he hit the ground: Toph.

Toph practically threw Rayk off her before she realized who it was, "Rayk?" Her voice was more than a little confused and slightly worried since he wasn't getting up off the ground and just lay there groaning.

A moment later he recovered his voice, "Humans are very bony creatures." Then he noticed who he'd landed on, "Toph? Did you break anything?"

"Not yet. Anyone else going to fall on me?" She asked feigning a look in the sky.

"No and before you ask I'm staying down to play dead. If anyone actually sees us talking questions are going to be raised."

"Don't worry, there's plenty of chaos around us. Zuko letting them have it isn't helping things at all." Toph winced as she felt another soldier jerk when he was hit with lightning.

Rayk paused for a little less than a second to glance at Zuko before continuing, "Why didn't Lanorit buy your idea?"

"Oh he did. He decided the Fire Nation has too many people to make miserable all at once so he decided to cut down the number." Toph's voice was pure misery.

"It's okay, you did your best. I'm trying to get everyone back together so that he it'll be harder for him to pick us off. Any chance you can help with that?"

Toph's face didn't change, "Zuko and Iroh are the only ones left around here." It took a second for Rayk's brain to process the information, then he jumped to his feet, thinking if the creased forehead said anything.

"Where is the closest cluster of people?" Toph stretched out a hand to show the direction and Rayk shot off. A moment later Toph started in another direction as the ground around here started give very disjointed images because of the lightning.

--

Zuko had no idea what had happened. One second he and Iroh had been directing a swarm of people from the front line towards the back where the real fight was starting and then the ground seemed to explode and half the people around were already dead with more falling every second.

His eyes focused on the wall of Earth Kingdom soldiers that appeared out of the debris of destroyed houses and he started knocking them down one by one. Iroh was right beside him blasting down just as many. Their position was becoming more desperate as more of the remaining people around them were killed and more soldiers chose them as their next target.



Zuko was forced to start to use more and more of his attacks to destroy more and more of the projectiles that were launched at him. Iroh continued to strike down the soldiers as even more came to fill their space.

Their luck ran out when Zuko missed a single rock and it collided with Iroh right on the crown of his head. He stumbled backward and fell to the ground, a trail of blood trailing down his face. Zuko lost all interest in the approaching soldiers as he saw Iroh fall. One thought pushed the other ones from his head that hadn't been there since Azula had blasted Iroh when they'd cornered her in that deserted town with the avatar: revenge.

He drew more power from somewhere deep inside himself to keep going and it seemed to open a flood gate. Power surged through him and electricity arced from every place on his body that it could. He stopped thinking and shifted to instincts. He controlled his muscles in his body with shocks to move them quicker and sent bolts of lightning in the soldiers at speeds that Aang would have been proud of.

His seemingly inhuman power stopped the soldiers in their tracks and they hesitated. Normally their numbers would've subdued anyone, but this was something else. A few continued to try and attack and found that their bending didn't even function anymore.

The air seemed to have a charge of its own and the rocks had so many extra electrons in them that they flew apart and until they crashed into something. Still the attacks came, but they weren't as focused, missing their target now and again. Zuko was losing control. The spirits power was proving too much to control and it was slowly making his body too numb to control.

The soldiers can't have known this, but they sensed it in some form because they started forward again. Zuko's body was all but useless and he sank to his knees watching them come towards him. The thought of imminent death gave him with strange calmness. The strange power buzzing through him told him there was one more chance. He collected the positive and negative energies in his body and sent them crashing together at the entrance of either hand. The air shimmered where the connected and a ball of lightning appeared there.

Zuko forced his arms to move and threw into the ground. The massive charge spread outward in an instant and knocked the soldiers from their feet. Anything metal was melted in an instant and there were screams everywhere as helmets melted over faces. Zuko couldn't know any of this as he was already on the ground unconscious among the mob of Earth Kingdom bodies.

--

Azula was starting to get a little nervous about the situation. They had to evacuate Mai at least an hour ago after she'd run out of knives and had been struck by a small salvo of arrows. Ty-Lee's endurance was waning and her punches became slower and kept people down for mere minutes now and even Azula's attacks were a little less than lethal.

The other thing that Azula was worried about was that she'd never been in an actual battle. Every time she'd fought with large numbers the advantage had been hers. Now the numbers were slanted crazily ad it wasn't in her favour. You had to be looking constantly around to make sure that you weren't getting hit in the back. She didn't worry about Rayk too much. He'd fought in this sort of thing before and he' play it smart d keep people around him so that they wouldn't get killed as fast.

Azula came to a conclusion after seeing how many of them were left and caught Ty-Lee's eye or the second she needed to get the message she had across: retreat and find the others. Ty-Lee nodded with sweat streaming down her face. Next she looked around as long as she could for Sokka ad Aang, but they weren't anywhere to be seen.

--



Sokka was starting to see the armour as a bad thing now. It kept the heat in far too well. Another salvo of arrows from Suki's archers whizzed towards him, scattering his thoughts, and were turned to wood chips on contact with his swords he came to a conclusion: the archers had to go. He charged forward into their midst with swords down, much to their surprise. Quite a few attempted to shoot him only to have their arrow whiz by him and plant itself firmly in another archer.

As realization of what he was doing settled in Sokka started his swords again. The rest of the archers went down second later. Before he could double check he'd cut them all down Suki came out of nowhere and held back her arms with her eyes following the blades. Sokka couldn't believe what she did next; her arms shot out and the wires wound around an arm and the other around her sword, though it didn't break.

Sokka's brain supplied him with his next move despite Suki's hateful stare.

"Don't make me do this." He warned, part of him hoping it wasn't a futile attempt.

Her voice dripped hate for his decision, "Don't make me do this? Both your swords are gone and I'm close enough to use your weight against you." She didn't waste any time after that by dropping her sword. The signature fan of the Kyoshi Warriors appeared in her hand and she lunged at Sokka, trying to throw off his balance s she did.

Sokka felt a few tears slide down his face as he started his move after she acted exactly like he'd thought she would. He let go of one sword and grabbed her hand as she came forward. Next came a flick of his finger which released a pair of springs in his feet which compensated for the suits weight. He barely managed a front flip over her, but it still worked. He was standing behind her with arms behind her and a foot on her back.

Suki's eyes were wide in shock at what had just happened. This was in stark contrast to Sokka's that were riddled with sadness and disappointment. Now that he'd actually done it he didn't know what to do. He hadn't thought about this part. The answer came when he saw Toph.

He mouthed 'Throw a rock at me', hoping that she could read his lips through the ground. She seemed to get the message but hesitated a little because of what he was asking. She did nevertheless, though with less force than she normal would've. Sokka pulled back on Suki's hands a little and raised his foot up farther. The rock collided with her face putting her out for the count the instant it made contact.

Toph gave him a small round of applause. To anyone watching, not that they could really, tell it looked like he'd used Suki as a meat shield. He twisted his wrist a little and the wires to the swords loosened and he pulled them back to his hands. He gave Toph a smile of thanks before running away towards the secondary position which he figured was a good place to start looking for Rayk.

--

Aang was having a hard time pretending for Katara. She didn't have any other source of water and he had every element at his disposal. If this had been an actual fight there was no way he could've lost. As it stood though, he couldn't win and he wouldn't in a hundred years.

Just as he was about to fake hearing someone needing help Katara got more water. Little droplets appeared from the air and any grass around them withered and died as the water shot from it. It hadn't been a lot, but she had a fair amount now and Aang could at least try enough to look like he wasn't toying with her.

She froze the water into an ice wall and sent it at Aang. He sent a blast of fire at it and jumped through the hole he made. The wall shattered behind him and water rushed back to Katara to block a gust of air aimed at her feet. And Aang spun backwards in preparation for a stronger attack and 

stopped in his tracks. Katara hadn't drawn all the water back to herself. Aang was facing a small wall of ice daggers and he had no doubts that another one had already formed at his back.

With one mistake he'd forced her into asking him to surrender, which of course he had no intention of doing. He had one idea to get out of this situation but he didn't know if he could actually use it. He'd never tried bending two elements at the same time.

He made a dome of fire around himself that even the untrained eye could see was weak. He'd only gone through the motions of it before he'd come here. Next he spun and tried to keep the final form to keep the fire where it was. The gust of wind did more than simply push the fire outward. It increased its ferocity, melting the daggers before it even reached most of them.

The after effect of the attack was a thick blanket of mist made by the sublimation of the daggers. Aang buried himself on the ground and focused on sifting through all the vibrations he could feel. About ten seconds later he picked up on Rayk and started tunnelling through the ground toward him.

Toph came out of the ground from another direction shortly after Aang's departure and feigned looking around for something. She shrugged when she couldn't find it and continued towards Lanorit who was coming down t meet with them both.

"Well, there numbers should be adequately depleted. Now for that their body is decrepit it's time to make their spirit match it." She smiled evilly and blew into a whistle and received a similar call a moment later to tell him where their new base was.

--

Rayk had been fast enough to gather a large group together and now they were in an uneasy cease fire with the enemy. The group was in a subdivision on the north side of the city with the Earth Kingdom army encircling their position. You could tell the other side was waiting for something.

Suddenly Lanorit's voice boomed out over the remaining Fire Nation population, "Be glad that the Path of Radiance is one of second chances. I will spare your lives for one thing."

Katara and Toph stood beside him on a roof in the middle of his army, both barely restraining their drive to kick him off the roof and onto the ornamental fence below.

Katara was running over what he'd told them on the way here, trying to find a way to warn Rayk and the others.

'_I will do more than simply destroy their spirit and the source of their hope.' _The words echoed in her head, completely unhelpful.

Lanorit continued his ultimatum, "There is but one small thing that could ruin your second chance and you need only hand it over to secure it."

'_I will even do better than make them watch as it is destroyed._'

"You will have one minute to comply to this so make up your minds now. What would you give to live?"

'_I will make __**them **__destroy it.'_

"You will hand over the Avatar and his cohorts to me for execution." Lanorit's words echoed between the houses and if not for the echoes you could have heard a pin drop.



Luck was with Aang though. They had gathered to make sure Mai was doing all right and that Zuko was conscious again. Rayk heard the end of the speech and came to a conclusion the second it was over.

"Aang, make a commotion. We need to make it look like we're struggling." Rayk didn't wait for Aang to start and slipped inside the tent to tell the others what was happening. Zuko managed to get to his feet, though he was a little unsteady. Mai rose with considerable more stability with an arm in a sling and bandages around her torso.

"Once Aang's made enough noise we're going to go underground and wait for to see if Lanorit decides we actually ran. If he does we stay there until he leaves and decide what to do from there. If he doesn't we don't have a choice. We'll have to take him out."

Outside Aang had taken to his job like an artist cut loose in a paint factory. He had a cloud f mist and fog swirling around the tent and had gouts of flame and gales of wind bursting out of it every so often. He'd even gone so far as to throw earthen dolls out of it, though he made sure never to throw them towards Lanorit. That would've spoiled the whole effect.

Everyone filed out of the tent with about ten seconds to spare and Aang buried them in the ground.

It was only pitch black in the hole for a moment before Azula and Zuko had a fire in their hands. Quite a few of them were already sitting.

Sokka was the only one who apparently had a problem with this, "Toph can see underground. We have to move out into the ocean. That's the only place where won't be able to see us."

Aang said his objection. But started the tunnel anyway in case Sokka saw something eh didn't, "Toph's not going to rat us out Sokka."

Rayk seemed to see what Sokka was thinking, "No offence meant t your earth bending skills, but you couldn't get us out of her range of vision before time ran out. Lanorit knows that and would probably be able to tell if she wasn't genuinely surprised at not being able to see us."

Aang continued the tunnel in silence until his form became different. He blew a hole in the rock a made the water that rushed in flow around them into a bubble. They stepped out into the ocean. Whether it was intentional or not Aang's tunnel had placed them close to the surface.

He opened the bubble up so that fresh air streamed in and they could hear Lanorit yelling again,"It seems your heroes have deserted you to save themselves. I am generous though. You will have your second chance, but there will be precautions so that you don't stray from the correct path."

Everyone breathed out as one in the bubble. The Fire Nation had survived.


	31. Epilogue

Instinct's Info: And the story draws to an end. This isn't really meant to be a chapter; it's supposed to explain what happened after Lanorit's general withdrawal and what happened to the members of the gang. I would put down read and review (and I still hope you do) but if you're reading this you've most likely read the whole story and if you haven't reviewed by now chances are the end of it isn't going to change anything.

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar. If I did I'd have reviews coming in in the form of ratings. Wouldn't that be nice...

**Epilogue**

One Week After Lanorit's Invasion

Iroh sat in the throne room, looking down at the long table and sighed inwardly. There were only two people sitting at it not including himself. The throne had immediately fallen into disuse when he was chosen to be Fire Lord during the first day of the Gaoling Convention.

The convention had been called by Lanorit and was being attended by every small province that the Earth Kingdom had, Ba-Sing-Se, Omashu and ambassadors from each of the Water Tribes. It had been the Water Tribes adamant refusal to place someone in the position of Fire Lord from another nation that had landed Iroh the position.

This had been despite Lanorit's arguing with Katara backing him up. In reality nothing of the sort had occurred. It had been her that had given the two ambassadors the idea in the first place. Lanorit hadn't made it easy for him though. He had almost no help in running his country, not that it had much power left. So far there had been a population cap placed on them and there were sever fines slated to be shovelled on shortly that would decades to pay off.

Still, he couldn't be mad. His home had survived against all odds and he counted himself lucky to be having a hand in rebuilding it into something that the world would smile on. He couldn't say the same thing for Rayk and the others had done the most in orchestrating its survival.

Not even Aang had been seen since his disappearance at the end of the invasion. 'The same can' be said for Rayk though.' He though and allowed himself a small smirk. He dismissed the two ministers he was allowed and they left the room without comment.

The moment the door was closed a cloaked figure appeared from the side of the room and came across until it was standing next to Iroh. Rayk lowered the hood and smiled without any apparent regret. That was strange considering Lanorit hadn't wasted any time after he'd left in starting a campaign to slander their names. It was being circulated in news papers and was being put into history textbooks with 'eye-witness accounts' from Toph and Katara that were patently steaming piles of bull crap.

"So, how is the life of banishment going?" Iroh asked with a smile.

Rayk gave a short laugh before answering, "Not bad. Aang can finally make it out of his body to visit Katara nightly without my help now. I'm quite happy working on the shady side of things to put thorns in Lanorit's side. Azula seems to like the challenge too. Zuko and Mai would help us, but Zuko's totally engrossed in learning to control all the power that's in him and Mai wouldn't leave him to help us anyways. How are the others doing?"



Iroh was forced to give a laugh straight from his belly, "How do you not know? Sokka stole Lanorit's new flag ship was it was still in dry dock! He's apparently become a pirate and is targeting trading ships from the Bi-Fong company!"

Rayk very nearly laughed, but managed to keep it to a smile, "I knew he'd figure out a way to get messages to Toph. I bet he's even the one behind the R&D department, isn't he?"

"Would the Toph you know **ever** think of starting a research and development department?" Iroh's grin was barely containing his laughter.

"And I assume Ty-Lee told you all that?" Rayk asked, wondering about their one little piece of spying that was still going on.

"Yes, she's still pulling off being a bookie for the Bei-Fong's wonderfully. The family is putting up a magnificent charade of following Lanorit. All the support their giving him materially though seems to be intercepted by Sokka's ship." Iroh answered with a wry smile.

"And Katara's managed to get the necessary parts of the Northern Water Tribe in one the trick too. We'll have Lanorit down before long."

A sad smile crept onto Iroh's face, "Rayk, all of you are martyrs. You're saving a world that's most likely going to hate you while you're doing it."

"Everyone needs somewhere to direct their hate. We made ourselves the target so no one else had to suffer it. I don't regret it and the others don't either. You just focus on getting rid of as many of the restrictions on the Fire Nation as possible." Rayk flipped the hood back up, signalling the end of the conversation.

--

Iroh had moved quickly to his room after the meeting to get as much time as possible out of the tea service that was waiting for him. He looked out the window as he drank his tea, savouring it and heard a low roar. A cloud rose from the outside of the palace's wall and shot off into the sky.

--

The End

Instinct's Info: Woo! Finally done! I'll start revising when I get back from vacation. Since none of you replied to the question I asked a while ago I'll be starting the Naruto story shortly after the revisions. Author Alert list me if you want to know when I start.


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